


For Those About to Die

by LadyWallace



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Creepy Lucifer, Episode: s05e19 Hammer of the Gods, Gabriel does care, Gen, Gladiators, Hurt Castiel, Hurt Dean, Hurt Gabriel, Hurt Sam, Lucifer wants Sam as his vessel, No Slash, Pocket Dimensions - Freeform, Roman era, Season 5 AU, Some light angst, Team Free Will, gladiatorial fighting, hurt Kali, major Cas whump, mostly a quirky adventure until it's not, pretty much everyone gets whumped
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-10-23 21:18:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 33,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17691251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyWallace/pseuds/LadyWallace
Summary: 5X19 AU When Lucifer shows up at the Elysian Fields Hotel, Gabriel forms a plan for him and the Winchesters to escape into one of his pocket dimensions. Unfortunately, when Lucifer hijacks it, they find themselves embroiled in the dangerous world of Roman emperors and gladiatorial fights, just hoping to survive long enough to make it out alive.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Some lines in this chapter are taken from 5x19 Hammer of the Gods
> 
> Thanks to Aini_NuFire for beta reading!

Dean ushered the prisoners out of the hotel, though they needed little coaxing, running for their vehicles and getting the hell out of this hellhole. Dean was sure they didn't truly understand what had been going on there, but they knew that they were glad to be getting away from it, and he wasn't going to trust Team Pagan in there not to go back on their word at any second and run after their appetizers.

"Come on, get out of here, let's go!" Dean waved at them, holding the door open as the last of them rushed out into the night.

He was about to go back inside, half worried that his whole plan would have crumbled by now, and he and Sam would be next on the menu, but he caught sight of the Impala's headlights flashing and he glanced over with a frown.

" _Pssst_ ," a voice hissed from the back.

Dean started over and was shocked to see Gabriel. Gabriel, who he had just watched Kali stab to death.

"Don't look at me!" Gabriel warned, ducking slightly. "Just act natural! Get in."

Dean hurried around toward the driver's side and slipped inside the car, spinning around to stare at the archangel.

"Man, there is nothing natural about this at all, I thought you were dead!" Dean said.

"You think I'd give Kali my real sword?" Gabriel demanded. "That thing can kill me!"

"What do they have in there?"

"A fake. Made it out of a can of diet Orange Slice." And boy if he didn't look proud about that.

Dean was still getting over the fact that Gabriel was still alive, and better yet, why he was hiding out here, instead of trying to do something to help their plan to stop Lucifer.

"So, uh…" Gabriel began. "Go snag our blood, would ya?"

Dean glanced back at him. "What?"

"I heard you in there. Kali likes you. You can get close, lift the plasma, then we vamoose."

"No," Dean said decidedly. "Give me the real blade. Better yet, why don't you sack up and help us take down Lucifer?"

Gabriel sat up straighter. "You can't be serious."

"Deadly." And he was. He was currently a thousand percent done with this crap and he just wanted it to be over. He certainly didn't want to be hanging out with some archangel turned trickster while his brother could be in there with his bones licked clean for all Dean knew.

"Since when are you butt-buddies with a bunch of monsters?" Gabriel demanded. "That's all they are to you, aren't they?"

"You know, Sam was right. It's nuts, but it's the best idea I've heard. So unless you have a better one…"

Gabriel pulled a wry look, hands clenching on the back of the seat. "Well, good luck with that. Me? I'm blowing Jonestown. Those lemmings want to run off a cliff, that's their business."

"I can see right through you, you know that?" Dean demanded, narrowing his eyes at the archangel. "The smart-ass shell, the whole I-could-give-a-crap thing, believe me, it takes one to know one."

"Is that so?"

"Yes," Dean insisted. "And maybe those freaks in there aren't your blood, but they are your family." He saw that now. The way Gabriel interacted with them, there was a lot of history there, and maybe not all of it good, but that's what family was about, after all. And there was a reason the archangel had actually given a crap to show up at all even though he probably figured something like him getting found out was a high possibility.

"They just stabbed me in the friggin' heart!" Gabriel protested.

"Maybe," Dean shrugged. "But you still give a crap about them, don't you?"

"Dean…"

"And they're gonna die in there without you."

Gabriel shook his head. "I can't kill my brother," he said quietly.

Dean stopped, meeting the archangel's eyes for a long second before he asked, "Can't or won't?"

Gabriel didn't reply, but eventually, he turned his eyes down. Dean gave a small nod. "That's what I thought." He got out of the car and headed back toward the Hotel.

He supposed he couldn't really blame Gabriel for that though. After all, he was doing this so _he_ didn't have to kill his brother. Of course, Sam wasn't exactly a narcissistic genocidal maniac bent on destroying the world and everyone in it. But Gabriel _had_ admitted he was sentimental. And _maybe,_ once upon a time, Lucifer hadn't been so bad.

He was almost back inside the hotel when he heard the door of the Impala open and close and then footsteps behind him.

"Dean, wait."

Dean tuned around, hand on the door handle and saw Gabriel standing there, looking almost self-conscious, something that looked extremely out of place on the Trickster, but was oddly reassuring at that moment, as if Dean had just wanted to see behind the mask and Gabriel had finally let him.

"You were right," the archangel said. "I do give a crap. Despite everything, they are my family. But so is Lucifer. I remember him before he turned into…what he is now. I know you, of all people, understand why I can't do it, and why I'm glad that's Michael's duty and not mine."

Dean nodded slightly.

"So, I have a plan," Gabriel sighed, rolling his eyes. "It's not a permanent fix, but it might get us out of the line of fire long enough to think of a better one."

Dean cocked his head to one side. "I'm listening."

~~~~~~~

" _We're doing what?"_ demanded Odin as the other gods and goddesses in the room raised their own protests.

Dean glanced at Sam—thankfully not turned into an hors d'oeuvre—as Gabriel finished relating his plan. This was going over about as well as he suspected.

"I am not going to fall prey to one of your jokes again, Loki, er, Gabriel," Baldur huffed, folding his arms over his chest.

"Even I'll admit, this wouldn't exactly be my first choice of plan," Kali said and glanced reluctantly over at Gabriel. "But it may be our _only_ choice right now."

"Like hell," Odin snapped and strode for the door. "I am not running away like a frightened rabbit! Those actions do not get you into Valhalla."

"Well, then you're going to be going to the big party in the sky a lot sooner than planned," Gabriel said. "Because when Lucifer gets here he's gonna tear you apart."

"You think that all of us together don't have even a small chance of winning against one archangel?" Ganesh scoffed.

Gabriel quirked an eyebrow at him. "You saw how great my death stuck."

"Because you tricked us with the wrong blade," Kali said and still seemed a little pissed, Dean noticed. "With the right one, we could do some damage."

Gabriel smirked at her. "Yeah, but aren't you glad I'm back? I'm willing to mark that off as a lover's quarrel. Wait 'til we get to our vacation destination and you and me can have a grand old time."

Kali rolled her eyes with a disgusted noise.

Dean and Sam stayed to one side of the room, trying to keep out of the way as much as possible. Gabriel was doing weird motions and drawing sigils on a door as the gods reminded him about how bad an idea this was. Dean wasn't so sure it would work, nor was he sure that he really wanted to be stuck in another one of Gabriel's fun houses, but they really didn't have a better option at the moment. Not if Lucifer was on his way right now.

Dean glanced around the room, and frowned as his gaze moved between all the gods. He nudged Sam. "Hey, what happened to the douchey little guy with the bowtie?"

Sam frowned as well. "Mercury? I don't know."

It was then that a choked off scream was heard down the hallway outside. Dean and Sam hurried toward the door as the rest of the gods looked up. Dean peeked out, watching the lights in the hotel flicker and this time it was definitely not from the storm.

Sam's breath caught in his throat and he gripped the back of Dean's jacket. "He's here. Dean, he's here, I can…I can feel him."

At just that moment a figure turned down the long hallway and Dean only needed a second to recognize the Devil. He shoved Sam backwards and slammed the door.

"Okay, change of plans, Lucifer is here now!" Dean snapped.

Gabriel looked up, eyes wide. "What? Already?"

"Yeah, so let's get the hell out of here," Dean said. "How's your door to Narnia going?"

"It's not finished yet—you wanna be stuck in a two-star pocket dimension?" Gabriel demanded.

"Right now I kinda just want to live," Dean snapped.

"This is ridiculous, we will have a better chance if we go out to fight," Odin said and strode toward the door, most of the other gods followed.

"Hey!" Gabriel called. "He will kill you bastards! Don't say I didn't warn you!"

"Shut up, Loki," Odin snarled and threw the door open.

The gods went out, only Kali and Baldur staying behind, looking unsure of what they planned to do in this situation. It wasn't long before screams and the _thunks_ of bodies—and probably body parts—sounded outside the door.

"Oh crap, crap, crap," Gabriel muttered as he frantically made traced sigils in the air.

Dean had his angel blade out for what good that would do. He knew neither that nor the demon blade would do a thing against Lucifer.

"Gabriel," Sam hissed.

"You wanna try? Be my guest!" the archangel snapped but it was already too late. The door to the room slammed open and everyone spun around to see Lucifer standing there covered in blood from head to toe. Dean had a feeling the other gods wouldn't be joining them on this trip after all.

"Okay, plan b," Dean turned toward Kali and Baldur. "Can't you like, shazam us out of here or something?"

Baldur sighed heavily. "We can't."

"Of course you can't," Lucifer said as he strode into the room. "You didn't say mother may I. Sam, Dean, good to see you again." He glanced around the room and then finally caught sight of Gabriel in one corner, having ceased his work for the moment, seeming frozen. "Oh, hello brother. Fancy seeing you here."

"Lucifer," Gabriel said, no inflection in his voice, he just stood stiffly.

Lucifer looked from him to the others. "Well, Gabriel, I knew you were slumming it, but, really?" he pulled a face. "I hope you didn't….catch anything."

Baldur strode forward with determination, squaring up to the devil. "You think you own the planet?" he demanded of Lucifer.

"Baldur, don't," Kali warned.

"What gives you the right?" Baldur cried as he moved forward, obviously planning to attack Lucifer, but the fallen archangel simply waited for him to get within reach and then slammed a fist through his chest.

Dean and Sam flinched and watched in horror as Lucifer yanked his hand back and the god crumpled and fell to the ground. Dead.

"No one gives us the right; we take it," Lucifer said then glanced over at the others, blood dripping from his fingers onto the floor.

Kali was breathing heavily and she stepped forward, raising one hand.

"Kali, no," Gabriel said quickly, leaping forward finally and grabbing her arm, pulling her back with him, his blade held out at the ready.

"Let me go," she snarled, but Gabriel held her firmly, backing away toward his door.

"Over a girl? Really?" Lucifer shook his head in disgust. "Gabriel."

"Lucifer, you're my brother and I love you. But you are a great big bag of dicks," Gabriel said.

"Dude," Dean hissed, thinking insulting the guy who had just taken out a bunch of pagan gods like they were a b-movie stunt team wasn't the best idea.

Lucifer snorted slightly. "What did you say to me?"

"You heard me," Gabriel said, still edging backwards slightly. "Look at yourself! Boo hoo, Daddy was mean to me so I'm gonna smash up all his toys!"

"Watch your tone, little brother," Lucifer said.

Gabriel snorted. "Sure, keep playing the victim. But—news flash—today is not the day you win." He leapt back the last couple feet and swung the door open, emitting a blinding light.

Sam and Dean were already moving, racing for the doorway and whatever it led to. But Lucifer was moving too, seeming to realize what was going on, and he grabbed Gabriel by the front of his jacket before he could leap in. Sam and Dean halted with Kali just inside the door.

"Oh, Gabriel, always with the tricks," Lucifer tsked. "Do you remember who you learned all of them from?"

Gabriel's breath caught in his throat as Lucifer grinned. "Now, how about you play my game for a change."

Gabriel shouted as Lucifer leapt through the door and dragged him along. Dean felt the pull of whatever the hell portal they were going through and grabbed Sam in some poor attempt to keep his brother near him, but it did little good because in another second everything began to spin violently and they were thrown into a vortex of darkness.

_~~~~~~~_

_Dean came to with a start_ , sitting up from where he had been lying on the hard ground. Loud voices were talking around him accompanied by a cacophony of sounds, clanking, and feet tramping here and there.

"Dean?" Sam's voice came to one side of him but Dean barely heard. He was too busy taking in their surroundings.

They were dimly lit, torches lining the walls, but he could see men bustling around, carrying weapons, and wearing leather armor that looked like something out of _Gladiator_. Come to think of it…they kind of _did_ look like gladiators.

"Hey, boys, get off your arses! You're in the next bout!"

Dean jolted as an angry man in a dress stood over him. Dean scrambled to his feet and Sam did the same beside him. Another man came along and unloaded a pile of metal and leather into Dean's arms.

"Get this on!"

"The hell?" Dean demanded, turning around, wide-eyed, to look at Sam who had also been given similar equipment. Dean noticed for the first time that Sam was wearing a rough-looking tunic, and…so was he for that matter. Now that he noticed the tunic that ended just above his knees, he felt uncomfortably exposed. "Oh hell no," he said. "What is this?"

"Not exactly what I had in mind."

They both turned to see Gabriel striding up to them, coming from a room off to one side. He glanced around with a put out expression.

Dean dumped the equipment on the ground and turned to him. "Gabriel, what the hell is this?"

"Hey, don't look at me, I was aiming for a nice little spot on the Italian Riviera. Culture, wine…nude beaches."

"Then what happened?" Sam demanded. "This looks like you're a few centuries off."

"Yeah, and nice dress," Dean quipped.

"It's a tunic, and right back at you, big boy," Gabriel snarked, folding his arms over his chest. "Lucifer must have messed with it when we went through. This is what happens when you rush a pocket dimension. It's left malleable for anyone with enough power to play with."

"And on that subject, where is Lucifer?" Dean asked, looking around, half expecting to see the devil round the corner at any minute.

It was a flustered dude in a toga instead. "There you are, Gabriel, the Emperor is looking for you! The show is about to start and he'll be looking for his refreshments!"

"Wait, what? _Emperor?"_ Gabriel demanded as the toga guy grabbed him by the arm. "Hold on there, bucko…"

Sam and Dean hurried after them as Gabriel was hauled into an antechamber. There were bustling servants, and in the center of the room stood a tall man in a toga, and the red cloak and laurel headdress of a Roman emperor. Sam and Dean stopped at the doorway, mouths open as the figure turned around.

"Lucifer," Gabriel said.

"That's Emperor Lucifer to you," the devil said, raising a hand with a wicked gleam in his eyes. "Hail me."


	2. Chapter 2

Gabriel was still getting over the shock of just what his brother had done to his pocket dimension, and now this? As if Lucifer could get any more obnoxious than he already was, he had just cast himself as the head of the whole freaking operation on top of everything else.

"Okay, bro. What the hell?" he demanded.

He was not expecting the open-handed blow Lucifer delivered.

"Ow!" he cried in shock, and, dammit, it _really_ hurt. Like…

Gabriel had a sinking feeling as Lucifer continued talking.

"How dare you speak to your emperor like that?" he demanded coldly, but there was obvious enjoyment in his eyes. "Do you want me to punish you, Gabriel?"

"Kinky, but I think I'll pass, thanks."

Gabriel reached for his powers, planning to blast his brother into the next room, in the hopes of knocking some sense into him, but…nothing. His suspicions had been confirmed. He was officially grounded.

"That's right, little brother," Lucifer said in a low voice, taking a step toward him. "Your power was all tied up with the creation of this place, so I simply…used that to my advantage. My pocket dimension, my rules. And rule number one is that no one is more powerful than the emperor. I am a god on earth, after all. Which makes you my own personal servant."

Gabriel was furious, but there was nothing he could do. It would prove no point to piss his brother off more and have Lucifer simply throw him into the wall or something. That would just embarrass him in front of the Winchesters.

Speaking of… Tweedledee and Tweedledum still stood off to one side, watching with horror in their eyes.

Until that same angry man from earlier who had dropped off the armor burst into the room, then backed up and bowed as he saw Lucifer. "Apologies, my lord, but if you are done with my fighters here, I must have them get ready."

"Oh, I was just giving them a little pre-fight talk, but I'll send them on their way soon," Lucifer said and pushed past the still seething Gabriel to approach Sam and Dean. He gripped both of their shoulders tightly enough to make the hunters wince.

"As you can see, I'm running the show now," he said. "Which means you two are expected to obey the rules of the world, or there will be… consequences." Lucifer smiled. "Ancient Rome had some very creative ways of dealing with rebels."

Sam, the history geek, swallowed hard, obviously imagining a montage of everything he had ever read. Gabriel had to admit, there was a hell of a lot that could be punished in Rome and a hell of a lot of ways to do the punishing.

"So I think you know where you stand," Lucifer continued. "Play along, and nothing will happen to you."

Dean, of course, couldn't keep his mouth shut. He glared at Lucifer. "And why the hell should we? What do you even want here?"

Lucifer smiled slow, in a way that Gabriel knew meant pain was coming. Gabriel shot a warning look at the elder Winchester to shut his piehole but it was already too late. "I have my reasons, and you will learn to obey." He formed his hand into a fist and Dean suddenly collapsed, choking for breath from lungs that wouldn't work.

"Dean!" Sam cried and crouched to grab Dean under the arms, keeping him upright as he continued to fight for breath.

"Luci, that's enough," Gabriel said quietly as the elder Winchester was going blue in the face, eyes rolling back into his head.

Lucifer, of course, held on with the torture for another few long seconds before he released Dean who collapsed limply against Sam, gulping in breaths.

Sam glared up at Lucifer. "If this is some elaborate play to get me to say yes, it's not gonna work."

Lucifer smiled again. "Only time will tell, Sam. And here, no one else is going to find you, so I have all the time in the world." He patted Sam's cheek, causing the younger Winchester to jerk away. "Now, go give us a good show today. I'm looking forward to it." He turned back around to Gabriel and had the nerve to snap his fingers at him. "Come now, Gabriel, and don't forget the refreshments this time."

Gabriel seethed, casting one last glance backwards at the Winchesters. They looked at him pleadingly for a moment, but there was nothing he could do. So he turned and followed his dick brother through a back passage and up a flight of stairs that came out into a huge coliseum. _The_ Coliseum to be precise, but possibly grander than the original, and in front of the opening they had come out of, into the emperor's own private box, was a huge golden throne with red seat cushions. Lucifer stood up in front of it, as the crowd roared at the appearance of their 'Emperor'. Gabriel rolled his eyes and scowled even deeper as a servant rushed up and deposited a gilded tray of cheese and grapes on it into Gabriel's hands.

He was about to just drop it, when he looked over to the other side of Lucifer's throne, and saw a beautiful dark-haired woman wearing a common Roman style dress, standing beside the throne with a tray of wine in her hands and an extremely dark expression on her face.

Gabriel's eyes went wide as she looked over at him, the relief he felt at seeing her alive, instantly dissipating at the look in her eyes.

"Kali," he hissed. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"You tell me, _Loki_ ," she sneered. "This time, I really am going to kill you. For good."

"This isn't what I had in mind," he hissed again. "Lucifer hijacked my pocket dimension. And my powers."

Kali shook her head. "Always excuses with you, as usual. You always get me into the worst situations. I should never have trusted you. I'll make sure you're the first one he kills."

Gabriel gulped, and Lucifer motioned to the crowds to settle down, holding his arms wide as they silenced almost instantly. "For those about to die," he said, a smirk on his face. "We salute you."

The gate below opened and Sam and Dean were shoved out as another one on the opposite side of the coliseum was opened, at the same time releasing two more warriors, who were, if possible, taller and broader than the Winchesters.

"Oh raspberries," Gabriel muttered.

_~~~~~~~_

_Dean watched Gabriel follow_ Lucifer out of the room, curses on his tongue that the archangel was abandoning them when this had all been _his_ fault, but he didn't get time to protest or rush forward to drag Gabriel back, because that shouting man was instantly in their faces, scowling.

"Alright, lads, enough time has been wasted. Get your armor on and get out there. The emperor expects you to put on a good show today."

"Um, yeah, not gonna happen," Dean said, putting his foot down. "See, we've got someplace to be."

The man backhanded him across the face and Dean stumbled back against Sam.

"You watch your tone, boy! By Jupiter, if you weren't one of my best fighters, I'd have you flogged right now. As it is, I'll let it pass if you get your arse out there this instant."

"Okay, we're going," Sam said, pulling his brother along.

Dean turned to him as they went out to the outer room where several men were bustling around grabbing weapons and armor. "What the hell, man? You actually want to do this?"

"I don't think we have a choice, Dean," Sam muttered under his breath as several servants came forward and started strapping armor onto him. And precious little of it too. Only one arm was covered in plate metal. Dean got a similar one, and they both got a leather skirt thing belted around their waists. Okay, so at least the family jewels were protected, even though nothing vital was.

"This isn't Gabriel's whole 'play our roles' thing," Dean said.

"You're right, it's Lucifer's," Sam replied grimly. "Which means he can do whatever he wants with us here, and he's right. No one is coming for us. Bobby's in a wheelchair, and Cas…well, we don't even know what happened to him after Van Nuys."

"Gabriel's gotta know how to spring us from this joint, it was _his_ freaking pocket dimension."

"Yeah, and did you see him?" Sam demanded. "I think Lucifer's got him locked down. He's totally in control of this place." He looked around. "And worse, it's not even actual ancient Rome, it's like the Hollywood version. I mean, the 'Romans' even have British accents."

Dean rolled his eyes. Of course that would be the thing that was bothering Sam most about this. "Well, no points for accuracy, but we've still gotta find a way out of this place before we die."

"Agreed."

"Come on ladies," the toga guy said, bustling forward with two swords, which he shoved into Sam and Dean's hands. "Stop chatting and get out there."

"Okay, Brutus, we're goin'," Dean growled.

"My name's Flavius, you idiot," the man snarled, and gripped both their shoulders. "Now get out there. Make me and the emperor proud."

Sam and Dean stumbled out of the entrance into bright sunlight. Dean squinted his eyes as he heard Sam's gasp beside him, almost drowned out by the roar of a freaking gigantic crowd.

"Holy crap," Sam gasped. "Dean, this is the actual Coliseum!"

Dean however, was more worried by the other gate opening across the way. "Okay, can we geek out later? We got company!"

They both turned to face their opponents who were advancing across the sand toward them. And holy crap, they were freaking huge! One guy was carrying a sword, and the other guy had a trident with a net in his other hand.

"One of these days, I'm actually gonna kill Gabriel," Dean muttered, shaking his head as he held his sword at the ready, falling instinctively into a fighter's crouch. Sword couldn't be too different from a machete, right?

But then, having about six hundred collective pounds of seasoned fighter barreling down on you while you were wearing a dress wasn't exactly the way Dean wanted to spend his day.

The two other gladiators roared out in challenge and barreled into the Winchesters.

Dean managed to block the first blow of the other guy's sword on his, the force sending tingles down his arms. He disengaged, and went for the hamstring, only to be smashed in the face by an armor-covered elbow. A ripple of _oohs_ went through the crowd as Dean staggered back.

Sam was facing off with the trident guy, having to dodge both his longer weapon and the net he carried.

Dean growled, and rushed at his opponent again, kicking out. He hit the guy in the knee, but found he had armor there, protecting his shins. And even Dean's cleat-like sandals didn't do anything with that. The guy simply smirked and swatted Dean like a fly.

Dean crashed into the ground, getting a face-full of sand. He scrambled to his knees, spitting it out and spun around as Sam yelled. His brother had obviously gone to block a blow with his sword but the gladiator swung his net and caught Sam's sword arm in the weighted rope mesh. He tugged with a grin, sending Sam to the ground as well and kicked him in the side for good measure.

"Hey, asshat!" Dean snarled, leaping forward to attack the man before he could stab Sam with the trident and swung his sword.

Unfortunately, trident guy saw him coming and spun around, catching Dean's sword in the prongs of his trident and wrenched it to one side, effectively disarming the hunter. He then slammed the butt of the trident into Dean's stomach, sending him straight to the ground, collapsing next to Sam who was still struggling with the net.

Dean groaned. "Ugh, this looked so much cooler in the movies…"

"Silence, my people!" Dean glanced up and groaned again, seeing they were right under Lucifer's seat. The fallen archangel was standing up, arms spread wide as the crowds quieted. Dean pulled himself to his knees and helped Sam up too, who had finally gotten free of the net.

Lucifer then held up a fist, one thumb extended, held out horizontally. The crowd roared again, calling out what they wanted him to do, and as Dean looked around, it seemed like they didn't really have anyone on their team, and no kidding. They'd put up a terrible fight.

He caught sight of Gabriel standing next to Lucifer with a tray and a hostile expression on his face. He could help at any time.

Lucifer held on for what felt like eternity, the two other gladiators were growling and strutting around, obviously anticipating getting to finish the fight. Dean looked around for his weapon and saw it several feet away. Too far to reach without making a dive for it.

And then Lucifer shrugged and turned his thumb down. The crowd went wild, and started chanting, "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Sam made a face. "That's not even accurate, the movies always got it wrong; it was actually thumbs up that meant the okay to kill the other fighters."

Dean stared at him. "Really? That's your issue with this?"

"No, it's just…"

"Watch out!" Dean cried and shoved Sam out of the way of the trident. Dean acted quickly, however, and grabbed the net that was on the ground, holding it like a bullfighter as he leapt to his feet. When the trident guy came back for another sweep, Dean leapt to one side and caught the prongs of the weapon in the net and bundled it up, tearing it out of the guy's hands.

The gladiator looked surprised for a second, and then lunged forward to tackle Dean with his bare hands.

Dean however, was ready and brought the trident up at the last second, impaling the guy on it. His weight, barreling into the weapon almost snapped Dean's wrists, but the hunter stepped to the side and dropped the trident with his opponent, not wanting to be caught under _that._

There was another choked off cry and Dean turned to see Sam dispatching the other guy, who crumpled to the ground, sliding off of Sam's sword.

There was a gasp from the crowd before they erupted in deafening cheers.

"Bloodthirsty bastards," Dean muttered, but had to admit, his own blood was racing. Sam was cringing, wiping blood from his face, as Dean went over and grabbed his sword arm, raising it above his head as he shouted out, pumping a fist toward the crowd.

"Dean, what are you doing?" Sam demanded.

"Playing the game," Dean told him. "Look, if we can survive out here, gain some fans or whatever, then it will be harder for Lucifer to mess with us. Besides, it's better than getting killed, right?"

Sam shrugged and nodded, before waving hesitantly to the crowd. Dean cast another glance up toward the spot Lucifer sat and saw the archangel giving them a calculating look with a small smile on his lips. Dean didn't like that at all, but he wasn't going to let it bother him either.

He tugged Sam toward the entrance to the coliseum again and back into the place they had originally landed.

And there was toga guy—Flavius—standing there with a grin. He clapped them both on the back.

"You lads did good today! Nice going letting them think they'd had you. That's why you're my best fighters. Go get cleaned up, we'll have the supper in the hall later. You can bet there will be plenty of ladies there tonight."

He strode off, and Dean turned to Sam. "Okay, help me get this crap off, I'm gonna go see if I can find Gabriel."

"Good idea," Sam said, but was still looking around, probably judging the historical accuracy of the set dressing.

"So what's Flavius' deal, fight manager or something?"

"I think he's a lanista," Sam said as he worked on the buckles of Dean's armor. "They owned troops of gladiators, bought and sold them, told them when and where to fight….so, kinda more like a pimp."

"Awesome, now I definitely need a shower," Dean said as he took off the heavy belt.

Sam chuckled. "Well, it's probably gonna be more like a public bath house."

"Great, so I'm a pimped out fighter, and I get to bathe in the same pool as a bunch of sweaty, naked dudes," Dean mumbled. "I hate ancient Rome."

"Dude, you're the one who's watched _Gladiator_ a hundred times," Sam said. "You know you love it."

"I liked the movie, that doesn't mean I want to _be_ in it," Dean muttered. "Come on, let's just go find Gabriel and see if there's any way out of here."

But they didn't even get out of the gladiator barracks. Flavius appeared, his expression angry.

"And just where do you two think you're off to?"

"Dude, relax, we were just going to talk to—" Dean started but Flavius cut him off, waving a finger in his face.

"You know the rules, no leaving the barracks unless instructed. Did I instruct you?"

"No…"

"Then you stay put! And if I find that either of you have been wandering around unsupervised, I'll have you flogged!"

He moved aside and guards took his place, folding their arms over their chests. Dean wondered if they could make a break for it, but Sam took his arm.

"It's not worth it, Dean," he said, pulling his brother aside. "We'll find another way to talk to Gabriel, later."

Dean sighed, but had to agree. It did look like they would be able to cheat their way out of this one. And Dean didn't really want to find out how much worse this place could get for them if Lucifer thought they needed an attitude adjustment.

He wondered how the apocalypse could have possibly gotten worse than it already had been.

_~~~~~~~_

_Gabriel didn't think this_ situation could get any worse. But, it turned out that he was wrong because he was currently holding a towel and adverting his eyes as his dickbag brother eased himself into the steaming pool in the bathhouse.

"Mmm, that feels good," Lucifer groaned as he closed his eyes and leaned back against the side of the bath.

"I'm so happy for you," Gabriel muttered blandly.

"You know, Gabriel, you can wash my hair for me since you're not doing anything else," Lucifer said. "A nice massage after this wouldn't go amiss either."

"You know, you get genuinely creepier the more I'm around you," Gabriel said.

"Oh, little brother, I missed you, you know," Lucifer said with a small smile, cracking his eyes open. "You always made me laugh."

"And you always made me want to scream and throw something," Gabriel snarked. "So what's the game here, Luci? What do you really think you're gonna accomplish?"

Lucifer snapped his fingers. "Wine, please."

"Not until you tell me your plan," Gabriel insisted, folding his arms over his chest. If Lucifer actually thought he was going to play faithful servant, he had another think coming—and it was probably going to come with Gabriel's foot to his ass.

Lucifer sighed. "You know my ultimate goal, Gabriel. Sam Winchester will say yes to me."

"Why do you expect him to do that here when he wouldn't out in the real world?"

"Because," Lucifer replied, blowing at some steam as it rose from the pool. "Here, I have control, and I can do whatever I want. They have nowhere to run, and eventually, I will find Sam's breaking point."

"You know what his breaking point is," Gabriel muttered. It wasn't like it was a secret, heck, he'd killed Dean a crapton of times before and it had still taken months for Sam to actually break.

"Oh, I have Dean, that's true," Lucifer said. "But I also realize that I can't just torture him—as much fun as that would be. That will just make Sam angry. No, I have to work up to something much better. Something where Sam isn't going to have a choice. It will take a little finessing, but it will be so much more rewarding in the long run. And like I said; here, I have all the time in the world."

"And you and I both know that's not true," Gabriel said, folding his arms over his chest. "Sure, you hijacked my powers—clever. But your vessel there is still falling apart, even though you can hide the fact it's corroding in this place. You're still using borrowed time."

"I'll have enough time," Lucifer said certainly. "The goddess you seem very fond of is also a large source of power. I've locked her powers down, but I'm keeping her in reserves for when I need her. She still has much more to give."

Gabriel shook his head. "You always were so sure of yourself. That's what got you into trouble in the first place. Always sure you were right. Always sure you would win. But let me tell you, going after those boys is a mistake. They beat _me_ , Luci."

Lucifer chuckled. "And you always seem to forget I'm the one who taught you everything you know." He glanced back up at Gabriel. "Now, bring the emperor his wine."

"Drag your bare ass out of the water and get it yourself," Gabriel snapped. "If you think I'm gonna play a slave in this storybook land, you're wrong, buster."

He wasn't ready for Lucifer to grab him by the tail of his tunic and yank him into the water. Gabriel flailed, but Lucifer had him by the throat once he was fully submerged, forcing him down as he struggled and beat at Lucifer's legs. But he _needed to breathe_ and after a long couple minutes, his struggles became weaker, his sight darkening around the edges, and _he was actually drowning!_

Finally, Lucifer released him and Gabriel scrambled up to the surface, gasping for breath and choking up water. He hauled himself out of the bath and collapsed on the side of the pool, panting and coughing, and shaking, he realized. Because he was, as shameful as it was to admit, terrified.

"That was a warning not to test me again," Lucifer said, his voice cold as he leaned close to Gabriel. "Do you understand?"

Gabriel panted, and pushed himself up onto his elbows, forcing a glare at his older brother. "I'm just trying to decide what was worse: the drowning, or having my face at the same level as your nuts."

"Always joking, little brother," Lucifer said, shaking his head as he pulled away. "But my point is proven. You're as good as mortal here, I have control of everything. Neither you, nor Kali have any power in this dimension, which means I can do whatever I want to you if you misbehave. So, if you do care about that pitiful excuse for a goddess, you might want to watch your tongue. Draining her of her power completely will only help me."

Gabriel schooled his expression. Yeah, Kali could take care of herself, but…without her powers he knew Lucifer could destroy her without a second thought, no matter how big a fight she put up. Him too, for that matter, and he didn't trust that Lucifer held any sentiment toward him that would stop him from doing that.

Nope, long story short, they were uber boned and even Gabriel wasn't sure if he was going to be able to figure a way to slip out of this one.

He climbed slowly to his feet, his tunic wet and clinging, making the movement difficult. Damn, he couldn't even mojo it dry. "I guess I'll get that wine for you now," he said carefully.

Lucifer smiled. "I would appreciate it."

 


	3. Chapter 3

Thankfully, Lucifer dismissed Gabriel after his bath and the younger archangel was able to retreat for a moment by himself. He decided to take the opportunity and look around the palace to see where Kali was.

He finally found her in some sort of storage chamber off the kitchen that had dried herbs and other things in it. She was murmuring to herself, looking around and studying bundles of herbs intensely.

"Kali," Gabriel called from the doorway.

She gave him only a passing glance as she continued to look around the room. "Go away, Gabriel."

Gabriel closed his eyes with a sigh before he entered the small room and closed the door behind him. "Kali, come on, I know you're pissed at me, but if we work together, we may have a chance to get out of this."

She spun around, fire flashing in her eyes. "You must be more delusional than your brother if you think I'm going to work with you ever again! Need I remind you that _this_ was your last escape attempt and look how horribly it failed!"

Gabriel huffed. "For the last time, Lucifer hijacked my pocket dimension! How is that my fault?"

"I am done with your excuses!" Kali snapped. "And I'm done with you. I will get out of here myself. I don't need the help of an…impotent archangel." Her eyes raked him with disgust as she spun back around to search the shelves. "I'd rather trust a trickster."

"Hey, that bites!" Gabriel snapped. "And need I remind you that Lucifer has his hooks in your powers as well? And what are you even—kitchen help?"

Kali snarled. "It's better than being thrown into a dungeon. I'm willing to suffer through the indignity until I can find what I need to get out of here."

"Kali," Gabriel said, warningly. "You can't fool my brother. Trust me, I know. He'll expect you to trick him, and he'll kill you when you do."

"Then that's my chance to take," Kali said, furiously throwing a box onto the ground when it didn't contain anything useful.

Gabriel sighed. "You're not going to find anything here. Lucifer wouldn't have left anything lying around that we could use to get out of here, and frankly, I don't even know if a spell can work to break this."

"He doesn't know everything, and neither do you," Kali said as she found another box and tucked several sprigs of the plant into a pouch on her girdle.

"Kali, listen," he lowered his voice slightly. "You and I both know Lucifer doesn't have the juice to keep this place up long in his current meatsuit. The only reason he's able to maintain it at all is because my powers were already locked into the dimension when I created it. When he took over, he got control of my powers as well, blocking me from accessing them. and he's locked yours down too, syphoning them off as he needs them. But I was thinking, if we can just wait him out—"

"I already said I'm not going to be part of any of your schemes, Gabriel." She flicked a glance back at Gabriel. "Now if you're so worried about me, why don't you leave before he sees us conspiring?"

Gabriel clenched his hands in helpless fury at this stubborn goddess, but saw the wisdom in her words. "Fine. But promise you won't try anything stupid without telling me first. If you attack this place directly, it could cause me damage too."

"Goodbye, Gabriel," she said, not even turning to look at him.

Gabriel spun and stormed out of the room. He couldn't believe he had been so stupid as to get them into this situation. They probably would have had a better chance of going up against Lucifer back in the real world. At least then, there were variables against him, unlike here when everything was literally created in his favor. As long as he had control, he would be unstoppable. Gabriel just needed to figure out how to change the tide back in his favor.

Gabriel headed back to the ludus where Sam and Dean would be staying in the fighters' bunkhouse. He wasn't exactly looking forward to a confrontation with them, knowing they would only likely yell at him more—not even a passing respect for someone who had locked them in TV land and killed Dean a hundred times. Typical.

However, when he approached the ludus, he heard the sounds of music and reveling. His ears perked up instantly despite the dire situation and he entered the building, pushing through the gathered people and glancing over at a large banquet table in the middle of the room.

There was a band playing in a corner and around the table, all the gladiators lounged on padded benches, eating the supper provided for them and chatting up a plethora of beautiful women, their adoring fans, who had come to congratulate the fighters on their victories.

Most of them seemed to be flocking at the end of the table where Gabriel spotted Sam and Dean caught in the middle of the large group of women. Gabriel smirked as he made his way over there, hearing the conversations that were taking place.

"Oh, Sam, you're so strong," one woman cooed as she was practically hanging off one of Sam's arms while another one was threading her fingers through his hair.

"Can you spare just one lock of your hair, brave warrior?" the second one pleaded. "It would cause my heart to burst from my chest with happiness!"

Sam looked uncomfortable and nonplussed, making quiet protests and trying to scrape the women off. Dean on the other hand had taken a girl onto each knee and was laughing as they fed him grapes and recounted his fight that afternoon.

"Oh, you know, it wasn't even that hard," he said with a grin. "You just gotta know how to use a sword."

"I bet you know how to use more than a sword," one of the girls said suggestively.

Dean smirked. "Well, you're very flattering, sweetheart. Maybe if you're really lucky, I'll…" he looked up and saw Gabriel and a bit of the happy expression fell from his face as if he were ashamed of enjoying himself and had suddenly remembered that they were actually trapped in a world run totally by Gabriel's psychotic older brother, the devil himself. Not that Gabriel could really blame him with the company he was keeping.

Gabriel let out a low whistle. "Wow, they really spare no expense for their prize fighters."

Sam looked up at him too and Gabriel found himself with twin scowls facing him. Sigh. "Okay I get it, you're pissed. Join the club. Can we get past the fact that this is actually Lucifer's fault and onwards to coming up with a plan of escape?"

Sam stood up instantly, scraping the girls off of him who pouted and grabbed at his clothes. "Oh, Sam, even just a vial of sweat or blood! I couldn't live anymore without one!" one of them moaned.

Sam rolled his eyes. "That's the part that we get accurate?"

Dean excused himself more kindly from his adoring fans. "Okay, girls, I've gotta talk to my friend here, but we are _definitely_ finishing what we started." They tittered as he and Sam moved from the bench to join Gabriel and stepped into a side room, dulling the sounds of the party a little.

"So?" Dean asked, holding his hands out questioningly. "You got a plan or what?"

"Do I have a plan?" Gabriel repeated mockingly. "No, Casanova. I've got no powers, a very angry ex-girlfriend who also happens to be the goddess of destruction, a brother who tried to drown me in his bathwater and two ungrateful heavenly vessels who are sitting here in happy debauchery while they expect _me_ to come up with the plan to save everyone's asses!" Gabriel folded his arms across his chest. "Need I remind you that's it's been a few centuries since I've been the good guy? I'm not exactly the master planner here."

"Okay then," Sam said, his voice reasonable. "We'll put all our brains together for this one. Do we have anything so far? We haven't been allowed to leave the ludus."

"The what?" Dean asked with a furrowed brow.

Sam rolled his eyes. "This place, the gladiator barracks."

"Nerd," Dean grumbled.

Gabriel cut in before this brotherly fight went any farther. "Not much. Kali thinks she has a plan, but I don't know if the rest of us are involved, and frankly I don't have much faith in anything she does working out in her favor. She's too confident that she can beat Lucifer, but if I know anything about my brother it's that you have to work at least five steps ahead of him if you want to get the jump on him. Which is kind of what I was thinking…" he gnawed his lip in contemplation.

Sam and Dean watched him in anticipation.

"Well?" Sam prompted.

Gabriel huffed. "Okay, so pocket dimensions take a lot of juice to create and maintain. That's why only archangels have the power to do so. However, Lucifer is not at full power considering he's in a temporary vessel. It's already corroding. He's hiding it here as part of the illusion, but he's essentially wearing a ticking time bomb, which is why he hijacked my powers, which were tied up in the pocket dimension along with everything else. Which is why I'm grounded and he's in charge."

"And how does any of that info help us?" Dean asked.

"The weaker Lucifer gets, the less hold he'll have on the pocket dimension," Gabriel explained. "Which means that I might be able to snag some of my powers back."

"And that means you would be able to create a way out?" Dean asked hopefully.

Gabriel nodded. "Here's hoping. The only problem is that Lucifer knows he's working on borrowed time here—despite his grandiose bluffing earlier, we do not really have all the time in the world in here. He only has as much time as that vessel can hold him. And he knows that as soon as his control starts slipping, I'll start getting my powers back. He's not blocking me so much as just redirecting my powers and as soon as his hold on the pocket dimension slips, he'll lose his control over me as well. He could use Kali's power as a reserve, but she's not nearly as powerful as she once was—just don't tell her I said that. The problem is the longer we stay here, the more desperate he'll get to make you say yes, Sam."

Sam's jaw tightened. "That's not gonna happen."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know, you can cut the angsty hero dramatics. My point is, we're going to have to time this right. Find just the right moment where Lucifer's weak enough so that I can take back control of my pocket dimension, but still make sure we get the chance before he gets cornered into moving on to even more desperate measures." He glanced at Dean. "I mean, it's not like he's without leverage here." And yeah, Gabriel knew how easy it was to use Sam's big brother as leverage.

Sam and Dean both paled slightly. "Then what do we do?" Dean demanded. "Just wait around like sitting ducks?"

"For now, yeah," Gabriel told them. "Just keep doing this, and trust me, I don't like it either, but at least you're kinda good at the role you got cast in. I have to be the Imperial towel and grape holder. Trust me, you did not draw the short straw this time."

Dean grumbled, but they both knew there wasn't anything they could do about it. They were well and truly trapped.

"I'll keep poking around though," Gabriel assured them. "Look for ways to weaken this place if possible to speed things up. If I can do it under Lucifer's nose, even better. Thankfully, he'll likely be distracted mostly by thinking up evil apocalypse plans."

"Alright," Sam sighed. "Just keep us up to date. And let us know if there's anything we can do to help."

"Just don't die," Gabriel snapped. "That would be helpful."

He left them to their wine and women and hurried back to the palace.

Lucifer was waiting in the shadows of the atrium as he stepped into the large airy room. The fallen archangel, still in his imperial get-up, melted from the darkness, his eyes briefly glowing red. Gabriel stopped, unnerved despite himself.

"Gabriel. I hope you're not out there conspiring against me."

Gabriel snorted. "Gee, it's like you don't know me at all."

"Remember what we talked about, brother," Lucifer said softly. He was standing at Gabriel's shoulder now, brushing against him in a threatening manner. "Do not think there won't be consequences if you do something I don't like."

Gabriel tried to keep the fear from his face, but all he could think about were the massacred gods they had left back at the Elysian Fields—gods he had once been friends with. Kali was one of the few left and he couldn't stand the thought of her dying because of him too. Enough people had died for his weakness already.

"Oh, you know me," Gabriel said blandly. "I'm a real people pleaser."

"Keep it that way," Lucifer said. "Especially when it comes to me. Now, come help me get ready for bed. I want to make sure there aren't any assassins hiding in my closet."

Gabriel closed his eyes in a longsuffering manner. Maybe killing his brother wasn't such a far-fetched idea after all.

_~~~~~~~_

_Castiel got off the bus_ and glanced at the address Bobby had sent him. It should just be a mile down the street from the bus stop. As he walked, he let out a small sigh. He felt small and useless without his grace, without his wings.

He'd woken up in a hospital, weak, powerless, with nothing but the new scars on his chest, from his incredibly stupid stunt, to show what he had once been. And then he'd called Bobby after Sam and Dean's numbers had both gone to voicemail several times and found out that they had been missing for days.

Bobby had tracked their phones to a hotel in Indiana and had been about to go out there himself, wheelchair or not, when Castiel had called and offered to stop there on his way back to Sioux Falls. The older hunter had reluctantly agreed, and had wired him money so that he could take a bus.

He still felt somewhat weak from his ordeal, but that may also have just been his lack of grace. Either way, he realized that doing this alone, rescuing Sam and Dean from whatever they had gotten themselves into now, may not go well for him, but he would do anything he could to rescue his friends.

Castiel came to the hotel soon enough and stood outside, frowning at it. The place looked completely deserted. There were only a few cars in the parking lot and as Castiel's eyes swept over them, he got an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach as he saw one was the Winchester's Impala. They were here, or they had been, but for some reason that thought did not exactly comfort him.

As he got cautiously closer to the building though, he could feel a disturbance emanating from within. There was a very strong power coming from somewhere in the building. He was going to have to investigate it further.

The door was surprisingly unlocked when he tried it and he stepped inside.

The first thing he smelled was death.

Castiel almost reeled back at the waft of decay that assaulted his nostrils. He pressed the back of his hand to his nose and reached instinctively for his angel blade. As he ventured further into the lobby, he saw dark stains on the carpet and then glanced over to the front desk. That and the wall behind it were splattered with old blood. As he approached cautiously, he glanced down and saw a corpse lying on the ground, heart ripped out of its chest.

"This is not good," he muttered to himself as he swiftly dug his phone out of his pocket and dialed Bobby again, holding the phone to his ear as he continued cautiously through the hotel to see if there were any survivors.

"Yeah?" Bobby's voice came over the phone.

"Bobby, it's Castiel," the angel said, breath catching in his throat as he found a main hallway and the majority of the slaughter responsible for the awful smell. It looked like a carnal house with all the blood painting the walls and soaking into the carpet. "I'm at the hotel."

"Are Sam and Dean there?" Bobby asked instantly.

"I…don't know," Castiel said, stepping carefully over several corpses as he continued on his way. The radiating power was getting stronger and he was moving towards that. "But Bobby, something very bad went down here."

"How bad?"

"Well, the entire place is deserted besides the corpses."

"Corpses?" Bobby cried over the phone. "How many?"

Castiel looked around. "A lot. It appears a massacre occurred here."

"Balls," Bobby breathed, and Castiel knew the hunter was fearing the same thing. That Sam and Dean had been caught in the crossfire of whatever this was.

The corpses and the emanating power led him to a conference room off the hall and Castiel stepped inside.

"Cas?" Bobby's voice called cautiously over the phone. "You still there."

"Yes," Castiel said, frowning as he stepped further inside and then pinpointed the source of the power. There was a door at the back wall that had sigils burned into it. "I found something."

"What is it?"

"I…" he shook his head as he cautiously stepped over another corpse and approached the door. "Well, from the looks of it, someone made a doorway out of here."

"English please," Bobby snapped.

"A pocket dimension," Castiel clarified.

"Like that one the Trickster locked the boys in before?"

Gabriel. Castiel let out a breath of realization. "I think I may know what happened here. Only archangels are powerful enough to create a pocket dimension like this. I think Sam and Dean may have ended up trapped here with Gabriel and he got them out of here when the massacre happened."

"But who killed everyone? One of the Horsemen?"

Castiel glanced back at the other corpse in the room, seeing the hole in his chest, identical to the man at the front desk. "No. This was Lucifer's work. Which begs the question, where is _he_ now?"

"And why are Sam and Dean still trapped in the pocket dimension?" Bobby added.

A light appeared in the corner of Castiel's eye and he spun back to the door just in time to see the sigils glowing. "Wait, I think something's happening…"

"Cas, what's going on? You need to get out of…"

But the phone cut out as Castiel was suddenly engulfed in a blinding white light and sucked right through the sigils on the door.

_~~~~~~~_

_Sam tossed uncomfortably_ on his bunk in the ludus' sleeping ward. The mattress was lumpy and made of straw, and didn't help the already heightened nerves that were keeping him from anything but snatches of sleep as it was.

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Lucifer staring at him with his cold and calculating gaze, expecting an answer out of him that he would never give. The problem was, here he had nowhere to run from Lucifer. He felt like he was at the fallen archangel's whim—they all were—with what little freedom they had nothing but an illusion. And with Dean here for Lucifer to use as leverage…Sam shuddered to think of what would happen in the coming days if they couldn't get out of here; if Gabriel couldn't figure out how to get his powers directed back to himself. With their two powerful allies essentially powerless, their chances didn't look too good.

Sam rolled out of the cot with a sigh, grunting as he stretched his back out. He didn't know what they would be expected to do that day, but he really hoped they wouldn't have to fight. Although, that was probably the lesser of the evils here.

He looked around and felt a brief panic when he saw Dean's bed empty, but then the lanista, Flavius, walked through the door and saw him standing there.

"Good, you're finally up. Get to the bathhouse, would you? We have some fights planned for later."

Sam opened his mouth to protest but Flavius was already walking past him and yelling at the men who were still in bed. Sam sighed and left the barracks, heading toward the bathhouse he had seen the night before attached to the other side of the building.

He felt a little of his tension release when he realized Dean was there, but annoyance soon filled that space as he took in his brother's position. He was happily lounging on his stomach on a table, folded arms pillowing his chin as a serving girl gave him a massage.

"Oof, yeah, right there—that's the spot," he grunted as Sam walked over.

"Really?" he demanded.

Dean glanced up. "Morning to you too, sunshine. And do not knock it 'til you try it, Sammy, Julia here works wonders. I haven't felt this relaxed in years."

"Well, I'm glad for you, but you do remember where we are, right?"

Dean rolled his eyes, then groaned as the girl continued to work out a knot on his back. "Of course I do, Sam. But you heard Gabriel. We're at a stalemate. He'll let us know when we can get out. And seriously, I don't like it either, but that doesn't mean we should just sit around moping." The girl finished his massage and Dean got up reluctantly. "Thanks, sweetheart." Sam adverted his eyes as his brother wrapped the tiny towel that had been covering him around his waist and climbed off the table.

"You don't have to enjoy it this much," Sam grumbled.

"Look, Sammy, just because I'm not the one Lucifer wants to wear to prom doesn't mean I don't understand the dangers here, alright? But we just gotta hold on a little bit, man, and—as much as I hate to say it—trust Gabriel here. He has just as much interest getting out of here as we do."

Sam sighed, but nodded. "Fine. But the instant we get the chance, we are taking it."

"Hey, I'm with you," Dean said, then slapped Sam on the shoulder. "Now seriously, take a bath and get a massage. You'll thank me later."

He went off to get dressed and Sam was left alone in the bathhouse besides for a few servants. He sighed and glanced toward the large pool with steam rising from the water. Maybe a bath would feel nice.

He swiftly undressed and slipped into the pool, feeling the heat instantly start to relax his muscles. He let out a contented sigh as he leaned back and closed his eyes, relishing the feeling. Okay, maybe Dean hadn't been wrong about this one.

"Hey, mate."

Sam's eyes flew open and he suppressed a groan as several of the other gladiators came trooping in, stripped down and climbed into the pool. One sat down right next to Sam, brushing shoulders with him before he could scoot. He cringed.

He really hated ancient Rome.

_~~~~~~~_

_After the bath, Sam headed_ back to the ludus only to find that Dean was already getting geared up.

"We have to fight again?" Sam asked wearily, that being the last thing he wanted to do.

Flavius came up to him. "You're not up yet. We got a new fighter in and he's supposed to be good, so we want to try him against one of our best to give the audience some real entertainment. You were late, so I gave the opportunity to Dean."

Dean picked up a helmet and glanced at Sam before settling it on his head, obscuring his face. Sam felt a twist of worry in his stomach. He didn't like the sound of a new fighter. Was this one of Lucifer's plans?

They could already hear the crowd roaring out there and Flavius clapped Dean briskly on the shoulder. "Make me proud, lad."

Dean grunted something, and was about to go into the arena, when Sam called him back.

"Dean, just be careful," he pleaded.

Dean nodded and took up his sword, heading out into the arena amidst screams from adoring fans. Sam shook his head, hanging in the doorway anxiously, wishing he was out there with Dean again.

The gates on the other side of the arena opened and he tensed as the other fighter emerged to face his brother, sure that Lucifer was going to try something today.

Sam felt a prickle on his neck and looked up toward the audience. He couldn't see from this distance, but he felt Lucifer's eyes on him all the same and he shuddered.

He really hoped Dean survived this fight.


	4. Chapter 4

Gabriel sighed heavily as he accompanied Lucifer up to his box in the arena again. There were already hundreds, thousands, of people sitting in the Coliseum, waiting for the fight, and Gabriel wondered if anyone had any work to do in Lucifer's alternate Roman world or if they just appeared whenever he wanted to make a show.

There was a thundering of applause and 'hails' as Lucifer stepped out and acknowledged his 'adoring' crowd. Gabriel made a face behind his back. He glanced behind him as servants bustled over with trays filled with refreshments and a small table to put them on.

Once Lucifer was seated, he snapped his fingers at Gabriel. "Wine."

"Get it yourself," Gabriel grunted.

Lucifer glanced lazily over his shoulder at him. "Gabriel, this would not be the best time to test me."

"I don't know," Gabriel retorted, filling a cup anyway. "I thought that was always what I did best."

Lucifer gave a sly smile and accepted the cup Gabriel reluctantly handed him. He should have spit in it.

"You may be interested in Dean's opponent today," Lucifer told him as if he hadn't spoken. "I felt him poking around the doorway to the pocket dimension; thought I'd invite him inside."

Gabriel frowned but by then the fighters were being introduced and the crowd was going wild. He leaned forward to better see and caught sight of the gladiator who was going to be fighting Dean that day.

Gabriel's eyes widened in recognition. Even helmeted and with his grace nearly nonexistent, Gabriel would recognize that particular brother anywhere.

"No," he said.

"Yes," Lucifer chuckled, gulping his wine. "Let the fun begin."

_~~~~~~~_

_Dean was actually underwhelmed_ as he saw just one fighter appear out of the opposite gate. It wasn't even a big dude, in fact, even from this distance Dean could see that his opponent was thinner than himself. Hopefully, this would be an easy fight.

The other gladiator was also helmeted, but he glanced around as if taking in the arena and the screaming audience. Dean decided to take the initiative, raising his sword in a bit of a flourish, which got the crowd screaming again, and started toward the other fighter.

Dean's advance snapped the other guy to attention and the gladiator gave his own sword a small twirl as if to check the balance of it, then came forward with a determined stride to meet Dean.

Their swords met with a clash as the audience instantly screamed for blood. Dean was shocked by the strength of the other fighter. He may be wiry but he was strong. And he spent no time in disengaging and striking again.

Dean leapt back, just barely evading a graze to his ribs. He cursed under his breath as he got his sword up again and blocked a series of blows that the other guy threw at him. This other fighter obviously knew how to use a sword, which was not good for Dean. He was going to need to step up his game here if he planned on getting out of this alive.

He struck out, none of his blows finding their target, but they made the other gladiator step back for a second, giving Dean a breather. Dean glanced over toward the opening into the barracks and saw Sam watching anxiously. He gave him a reassuring grin, though Sam wouldn't see it past his helmet, and then spun back around as his opponent advanced again.

Dean fought to parry all the blows this guy threw at him, having to jump back more than once, or risk getting gutted. Damn, this dude was relentless! But as Dean fought off the blows, he also thought there was something familiar about the other gladiator's stance, the way he swung his blade with surety but not without an almost elegant flourish. Someone very comfortable with a blade in his hand. The style looked like something Dean had seen before.

But despite the other fighter's skills, Dean was also used to fighting battles to win, because usually death was the only other option in his line of work. He may not have the style this guy had, but he did have the savvy and he wasn't afraid to play dirty.

He took a chance and the next time the other fighter swung at him, Dean stepped swiftly to the side and grabbed his opponent's sword arm, swinging him around and throwing him against the dirt with a _whuff_ of breath.

Dean stood over him, his sword pointed at his opponent's throat, showing beneath his helmet. The crowd was calling for death, bloodthirsty freaks. He didn't want to have to kill the other gladiator, but he looked up at Lucifer. If it meant Sam's safety, then Dean would gank this guy if that's what it took.

He saw Lucifer standing up in his box, a smug look on his face as he held his hand, thumb out over the edge of the arena, ready to give his verdict.

But then Gabriel shoved ahead, and Dean saw the archangel pointing at him and his opponent, shaking his head frantically, his own shouting lost in the roar of the crowd.

Dean frowned, but before he could get any more instructions, his legs were kicked out from under him by the other gladiator. He slammed into the dirt, losing his helmet and his sword in the process and the gasp from the crowd was deafening.

Dean blinked the sand from his eyes, scrambling blindly for his weapon as he awaited the inevitable stab from his opponent's blade.

But it never came. As he looked up, he saw the other gladiator was just standing there, sword held at his side. Dean snatched up his own sword anyway, scrambling into a cautious crouch, before his opponent simply dropped his own weapon in the sand and reached up to take his helmet off.

Dean frowned but then when the other fighter's face was revealed, he just stared, suddenly understanding Gabriel's frantic gestures earlier.

A familiar face stared back at him, just as surprised, dark hair plastered to his head with sweat.

"Dean?"

"Cas." Dean finally managed.

The angel reached down and gripped Dean's forearm, giving him a hand up. The crowd seemed uncertain of what they wanted to happen, but as Dean looked up, Lucifer had simply returned to his seat, watching them.

"We thought you were dead, man. How the hell did you get here?" Dean demanded.

"I took a bus," Cas said simply, looking around bewildered. "This is…"

"Crazy, yeah, but let's get somewhere we can talk." Dean led him back into the barracks where Sam met them with wide eyes.

"Cas!" he cried and pulled the angel into a swift embrace. "You're alive!"

"Yes, I'm as surprised as you are," Cas said, still looking a little bewildered as Sam pulled away.

"But what happened after you blasted all those angels away?" Dean asked him.

Cas shook his head. "Apparently I appeared on a fishing vessel in a coma, but I woke up in a hospital a couple days ago. It seemed the nurses thought me brain dead—I gave them a bit of a scare when I woke up." He shrugged. "After that I tried calling you two, but neither of your phones worked. When I called Bobby, he said you'd been missing for days, but he'd tracked your last known location. I went to investigate the hotel and found the portal. I just don't understand what happened."

Sam sighed. "We got trapped at the hotel with a bunch of pagan gods who were going to use Dean and me as a ransom to stop the apocalypse. Gabriel showed up and then so did Lucifer. Gabriel tried to create a pocket dimension to get us out of there, but…Lucifer hijacked it and made…this." Sam gestured helplessly around them. "I'm sorry you had to get pulled into all this too."

"It was unavoidable," Cas assured him.

"So I'm guessing Lucifer has your powers locked down too?" Dean asked.

Cas looked down then, shifting self-consciously. "Actually, since I've woken up, my grace is…well, it's essentially gone. The backlash from the banishing sigil seems to have knocked out what little power I had left. I am as good as human now."

Dean's heart clenched at the angel's simple pronouncement. Cas had said it with little emotion, but Dean could see the underlying pain in his friend's face. They had all known it would happen eventually with Cas cut off from Heaven, but to have that little time shortened so suddenly was a cruel blow.

"Dammit, Cas," he muttered.

"At least I know where you are," Cas said sincerely, reaching out to grip both of their shoulders. "And, well, as long as Lucifer's here he's not wreaking havoc over the earth."

"Yeah, except his ultimate goal here is to get Sammy to say yes," Dean said.

"But we'll find a way out of here before we let that happen," Sam added firmly. "Gabriel thinks that if we can wait Lucifer out for a little while he won't be able to keep up the pocket dimension indefinitely. Not without his…true vessel." Dean hated the way Sam winced as he said those words and his anger for the fallen archangel only doubled.

"Then what do we do in the meantime?" Cas asked.

"We do what we have to to stay alive," Dean said with a shrug. "Play our roles, I guess."

"Gladiators," Cas said blandly.

"Yeah, looks like," Sam grunted.

"Well, I'm glad you three ladies are getting to know each other, but you could all do with some training!" Flavius strolled up again and Dean rolled his eyes, which earned him a smack on the back of the head.

"Ow!"

"That's what you deserve for flubbing that fight, boy! That was half-assed at best! And you!" He jabbed his finger into Cas' chest, causing a frown to form between the angel's eyebrows. "I was promised you were an expert swordsman. Next time I call you both out into the arena, I want you to put up a good fight! You hear?"

"Whatever," Dean huffed and got another, harder, slap to the head.

"That's 'yes sir' to you!"

"Yes, sir," he muttered.

"Now get out there to the palus and practice your swordplay with the others or I'll demote you to bestiari."

He strode off and the three men looked at each other.

"Let's go, we can talk more while we train, I guess," Sam said.

Dean sighed. He was really getting tired of this gladiator crap really quick. They may have had another ally now, but he wasn't entirely sure that was a good thing. Not if Lucifer decided to use Cas to get them to cooperate.

Dean glanced back at the arena, feeling the fallen archangel's eyes on him even though he couldn't see him at the moment. The day couldn't come quick enough that they ganked that son of a bitch.

_~~~~~~~_

_Gabriel gave a relieved breath_ as Dean recognized who he was fighting. Damn Castiel. Gabriel's pest of a little brother was always showing up at the most inopportune times. Like when he had tried to break Sam and Dean out of the TV land dimension. Gabriel still kinda felt bad about what he'd made Cas endure there, but it had been for his own good—really.

He certainly didn't want Cassie to be at the mercy of Lucifer, though. Another piece of leverage for the fallen archangel to use against Sam—and one not nearly as important to the plot as Dean.

Lucifer smiled as he sat back in his seat to the disappointment of the crowd, leaving both gladiators to retreat from the arena, alive and intact. "You seem surprisingly relieved, Gabriel. Would it hurt you if I were to kill the little angel? You always were far too fond of our younger siblings, in my opinion. Kept some of them from being good soldiers with your doting—I mean, look at what happened to Castiel. Fallen and slumming it with humans. Though I suppose that makes you two peas in a pod, doesn't it?"

Gabriel's hand clenched into a fist, but he shrugged off Lucifer's words with well-practiced nonchalance. "You know having another person in here is just going to give you more work to do."

"Castiel has no powers currently. He's as good as human. Which also means he has nothing of value for me to take. But the Winchesters seem to have made him into a fond pet, and may be distressed if something were to happen to him, so he'll be good to have around as an expendable piece on my board if I need to teach a quick lesson."

Which was exactly what Gabriel had feared. But he folded his arms over his chest to show that he wasn't going to be intimidated. "I just don't understand why you're wasting your time here, bro. I mean, you could be out there causing all kinds of chaos and destruction but instead you're in here, in a stolen pocket dimension, toying with the heavenly vessels like this is all a game. Do you have to drag out the apocalypse longer than necessary?"

"You know as well as I that I'm not doing anything until Sam takes his rightful place," Lucifer said quietly.

"Okay, then what happens if Michael comes knocking on the door next and decides he wants his own vessel?"

Lucifer shrugged. "Then I suppose we'll carry on and have the fight right here. You'd prefer that anyway, not nearly as much collateral damage out there. Of course, as soon as the victor was proclaimed—and it will be me—I'll simply move on to bigger and better things as planned."

Gabriel shook his head. "Whatever. It doesn't matter what I say, I get it. And really, I know there's no coming back for you. You're too far twisted."

"And whose fault is that?" Lucifer snapped suddenly. "Who locked me up in the Cage?"

"Lucifer, you were too far gone even before that and you know it," Gabriel said, a pang of old hurt rising in his chest that he fought to reclaim; shove back into the dark recesses of his heart that he never let see the light of day anymore. "Once you might have fooled me into thinking that there was still hope but…" He snorted, regaining some of his composure. "Dad locked you away because you didn't give him any other choice."

"And yet," Lucifer said quietly, darkly. "He wants this fight to happen. It was written a long time ago. So, is it really my fault after all?"

Gabriel heaved a sigh. Yeah, never did pay to try and reason with Lucifer. "You know what, stick to your own delusions if that's what helps you sleep better at night."

Lucifer ignored him and stood, passing Gabriel and crooking a finger at him to follow. "Go to the kitchens and tell them to prepare a feast for the night. I think it's time I had a dinner guest."

"Great," Gabriel muttered. He followed Lucifer back to the palace and went toward the kitchens, passing on the message.

As he was leaving, he caught sight of Kali walking into a room at the end of the hall and he frowned, debating for a moment before he ran to catch up to her and see what she was up to.

"Kali," he called as he got to a storage room and saw that she was running her hands over the back wall where it looked like she had moved aside some crates to clear a spot. "What are you doing?"

She turned around. "The sense of the outside world is stronger here," she told him. "I think this is where the door is on the other side."

Gabriel crossed to the wall and set his palm against it, closing his eyes as he fought to orient himself in Lucifer's messed up version of his dimension. But then he detected the current flowing with his own grace and he drew his hand back.

"You're right," he said. "Unfortunately, there's not much we can do about it."

"I'm working on something," Kali told him. "Something to weaken the locks Lucifer has put on it." She looked annoyed suddenly as she stared at him. "Unfortunately, it seems I'll need your help after all."

Gabriel cocked an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Don't look so smug," she snarled and reached down toward a basket at her feet and pulled out a small jar. "Your powers are tied up in this place. I'll need some of your blood for the spell…and some of Lucifer's."

Gabriel shook his head slowly, not liking the sound of this. "Kali, are you sure this will work?"

"I know what I'm doing, Gabriel," she said insistently. "My question is whether you will help me or not."

Gabriel sighed heavily. "How am I supposed to get Lucifer's blood, huh? He sees everything, he's suspecting us to try to escape at any moment, and he doesn't sleep."

"You're the so-called Trickster," Kali snapped. "You'll think of something if you want to make it out of here alive with your precious humans."

Gabriel bit his lip. Not for one minute did he not think this was a monumentally stupid plan, but…what choice did they really have? While he did think it would be more foolproof to wait until Lucifer's power began to dwindle, there was also the chance that he could do something really bad in that time. And with Cas here now as well…maybe they didn't have the luxury to wait.

"Fine," he yielded. "How long is this going to take?"

"Now that I know where to direct the spell, the only thing I'm missing is the blood." She pulled a knife from her basket and handed it to Gabriel. "You first," she said, opening the small jar.

Gabriel rolled his eyes but took the knife and slit his palm, watching as blood dripped into the pot. When Kali was satisfied with the amount, she allowed Gabriel to pull his hand back and wrap a cloth around it. It was freaking annoying not being able to heal even a tiny cut.

"Now you just need to bring me Lucifer's," she told him.

"I'll do my best," he promised, mind racing with just _how_ he would accomplish the task and glanced over his shoulder as he heard voices. "I'll meet you here later."

"Be ready," she said firmly. "Once I have the ingredients, I'm not going to wait around for you to collect your little friends."

"Don't worry, we'll be here," Gabriel told her.

If Lucifer didn't kill them all first.

_~~~~~~~_

_Sam and the others spent_ the rest of the afternoon in the training area, where they mostly hit padded poles with wooden practice swords.

"This is stupid," Dean growled after less than an hour, throwing his sword down and going to sit on a bench nearby, grabbing a drink from a bucket of water sitting beside it. "We should be _doing_ something, not swinging around fake swords like a bunch of idiots."

"I thought Gabriel said we just have to wait," Cas said, setting his own sword aside and leaning against the palus he'd been using for practice. "As much as I dislike that option."

"Yeah but there's gotta be something else we can do."

"Actually, there might be."

They all turned to see Gabriel striding toward them. Cas stiffened slightly, and Sam thought he saw the archangel look almost sheepish, an odd look on Gabriel.

"Hey, Castiel," Gabriel said simply.

"Gabriel," Cas replied, cautious.

"Sorry about, uh…you know, everything," Gabriel said with a shrug. "I was planning a perfect vacation destination, but Lucifer had something else in mind. You're okay?" he added almost as an afterthought.

"I'm fine," Cas replied stiffly. Sam watched as Gabriel shifted somewhat awkwardly. At least the archangel seemed to be apologetic for what he had put Cas through back in the other pocket dimension, just as much as he had been about the Winchesters.

"What do you mean, there might be something else we can do?" Dean asked, standing from the bench to join the circle.

Gabriel glanced around as if to see if anyone was listening. "Okay so, Kali may have come up with a spell that can weaken the dimension. She found the spot where the door opens on the outside, and she's going to try to blast her way out."

Sam frowned. "That will work?"

"Hopefully," Gabriel said.

"When?" Dean demanded.

"She's aiming for tonight, but the kicker is that I need to somehow get Lucifer's blood for the spell," Gabriel said.

Sam's eyes widened. "Lucifer's blood?"

"How the hell are we gonna do that?" Dean demanded.

"That's what I asked her," Gabriel snipped. "But she's not gonna do it herself and you guys aren't gonna get close enough to him so I guess it's gonna have to be me. But the rest of you need to be ready when Kali gets the spell done, 'cause she's not gonna wait for anyone. The instant that spell is cast, Lucifer will know what we're up to."

Sam and the others looked at each other.

"We'll be ready," he said. "Just tell us when and where."

Just then Flavius came out to the practice field, accompanied by two praetorian guards.

"Sam, you've been summoned to the palace by the emperor himself," Flavius said to the younger Winchester. "You go clean yourself up, boy."

Sam's stomach dropped and he looked frantically at Gabriel who held up his hands as if he had known nothing about this. "W-why?" he asked.

Flavius's face reddened as his eyebrows shot up. "Why? You're questioning the emperor?"

"No, it's just…"

"Then get inside and get a fresh toga on!"

Sam turned to Gabriel and hissed, "What is this?"

"I don't know, he did say something about dinner guests…"

"No way, you're not going in there alone," Dean said firmly.

"He's not gonna be alone," Gabriel insisted. "I'll be there."

"If it's just dinner, he probably just wants to talk," Sam said, though his stomach twisted even more, as he knew there was probably more to it than that.

"I don't like this," Cas said softly. "Sam, you have to be careful. Lucifer never does anything lightly. He could try to trick you into saying yes."

"I know," Sam said, swallowing hard.

"Sam! Time!" Flavius shouted from the door inside. The guards were still waiting silently.

Sam took a deep breath. "Well, it doesn't look like I have much of a choice with this anyway. Let's just focus on getting out of here as soon as possible." He stepped back toward the barracks, trying to ignore Dean and Cas' worried glances that followed him. Once inside, he washed quickly and changed into a clean, more formal toga which was long and took him a few minutes to figure out how to tie on properly. After that he accompanied the praetorian guards back to the palace where he was escorted into the atrium where a large fountain covered most of the sounds in the room, echoing off the tile floors and walls.

Sam wandered around for the better part of half an hour wondering how long he was going to have to wait here, before a servant came to escort him to another room.

This one was a very large and grand dining hall and at the head of the table, Lucifer lounged on a purple cushioned chaise, decked out in his imperial garments.

"Hey, Sam," he said with a slow smile. "I've been waiting to have a nice chat with you."

Sam drew his shoulders up, trying to appear less intimidated than he was feeling. The huge room felt eerie with only himself, the devil, and Gabriel who stood behind Lucifer's chair, looking tense.

"Have a seat, Sam," Lucifer said, motioning to the lounge to his right. Sam swallowed hard and strode over, taking a seat. Lucifer snapped his fingers.

"Gabriel, pour my guest a drink."

Gabriel made a face behind Lucifer's back, rolled his eyes at Sam and went to fetch a pitcher before he came back and poured a glass of wine that he placed in front of Sam. Lucifer watched him for several long seconds until Sam felt like his skin was going to crawl off his body.

"You should eat something," Lucifer told him finally. "I had all of this prepared for your pleasure. After all, I don't even need to eat."

Sam wet his lips and reached out tentatively to select a few dishes, placing several items onto his plate. Lucifer did the same and popped a small pastry into his mouth.

Sam cautiously took a bite of some sort of meat pie, but his stomach was so nauseous he could barely eat. He set it down and finally turned to Lucifer. "Look, I'm just going to get to the point. I know why you called me here, and the answer is no. I'm not going to say yes to you."

Lucifer smirked. "Now, you see, Sam, I was trying to be polite, let you finish dinner first, but if you want to be blunt, then even better. But you seem to have misjudged me. I'm not stupid enough to just think you're going to say yes now. No. I know it will take more…convincing." The way he said the word made a shiver go up Sam's spine and he suddenly became very suspicious of the food set before him. Lucifer seemed to see what he was thinking and chuckled. "Oh no, Sam, you misunderstand. I would never hurt _you_. I'd just have to put you back together after all, and that would just be pointless. Why would I bother with poison or pointless beatings when I have so many other ways to hurt you?" He cocked his head to one side and picked up his glass of wine, drinking deeply. "Hopelessness, for one, is a very powerful tool in breaking someone down. Laboring under the delusion that you will be able to escape from this place…well, go ahead and think that if it makes you feel better. Keep the hope alive so it hurts all the more when I crush that tiny spark you have left."

Sam didn't dare look toward Gabriel; he simply kept his eyes pinned on Lucifer, trying not to let anything slip. The devil's eyes bored into him, seeming to reach into his very soul and it was everything Sam could do to keep from shivering.

"There are really so many things that you have yet to learn about me," Lucifer said, beckoning Gabriel back over to refill his glass. "Perhaps one day, you won't underestimate me."

As Gabriel pulled back, Lucifer lashed out and grabbed his wrist, glancing at his hand that had a strip of cloth tied around it. Lucifer pressed his thumb into Gabriel's palm viciously and the younger archangel yelped as red bloomed over the cloth.

"It's almost pathetic that you and your pagan slut thought you were going to get away with an escape plan without me figuring it out," Lucifer said in a cold, dangerous voice, all pretense of pleasantries gone. He shoved Gabriel hard in the chest and the archangel skidded across the room to stop against the wall. Sam jumped to his feet, a dinner knife in his hand. It was now or never. If he could get a little of Lucifer's blood, maybe he could make a run for Kali before Lucifer killed all of them.

"Ah-ah," Lucifer said and flicked his hand at Sam who was slammed back down into his seat, his hand opening against his will and the knife clattering to the floor.

"Come on, Luci," Gabriel grunted as he climbed to his feet. "You really think I would be that stupid as to come up with a plan so soon?"

Lucifer snorted. "Little brother, you think you are so much smarter than you really are. You may have been able to hide from everyone else, but I know you better than anyone. I know all your deceptions."

There were the sounds of struggle and Sam and Gabriel both whipped their heads around to see two guards hauling Kali into the room. She struggled and fought them but they were unrelenting.

"Kali!" Gabriel cried, starting toward her but Lucifer lashed a hand out and slammed Gabriel against the wall with his powers, pinning him there as he strode over to the goddess.

"You really think you can cross me?" Lucifer asked her in a cold voice. "You? A washed up, old world god who doesn't even have the juice to kill a disgraced archangel?"

She spat in his face and Lucifer lashed out, hand clenching around her throat.

"You pig," Kali choked out. "Your plan will never work. And when you are weak and on your knees at my feet I will burn you."

Lucifer smirked. "We'll see about that."

"Lucifer don't!" Gabriel cried out as a glow began in Lucifer's palm where he had it wrapped around Kali's neck. Her eyes blew wide and a scream was torn from her throat as Lucifer's eyes glowed red. Sam watched in horror as the glow from Kali's throat crept up Lucifer's arm and into his chest as if he were leeching her power from her.

Lucifer finally let her go and Kali slumped to the floor, unconscious or worse.

"Kali!" Gabriel cried and Lucifer finally let him and Sam free. Gabriel hurried to the fallen goddess's side and rolled her over before glaring up at his brother. Lucifer just looked on in cold satisfaction as he turned toward Sam.

"Let that be a reminder that I am in charge here. No one does anything behind my back that I don't know about. And nothing will go unpunished." He looked Sam straight in the eyes when he said that. "I'm done with you for now, but we will talk again very soon."

The guards came and took Sam by the arms, forcibly pulling him from the room as he glanced behind him at Gabriel, still crouched over Kali's prone form.

"You won't win," Sam told Lucifer firmly before he was out of sight. "I won't let you."

Lucifer shrugged. "Then get used to the idea of everything you care about being torn from you."

Sam tried to fight back the inevitability of despair. He was determined not to let Lucifer break him, but how far could he really go?

And how much could he really stand to lose?


	5. Chapter 5

Sam was deposited back in the ludus by Lucifer's guards before they left without a word. Helpless fury and despair knotted his stomach as he hurried into the barracks to find Dean and Cas.

They had been waiting for the signal to leave so the instant they saw him, they got up from their cots and hurried out the door, following Sam out toward the dining area where they wouldn't be heard talking.

"Well?" Dean asked him.

Sam shook his head. "It's off. Lucifer made us."

"Son of a bitch," Dean growled.

"How?" Cas furrowed his brow.

"I don't know," Sam shrugged helplessly, running a hand through his hair. "But he attacked Kali, took her powers or something, which means he's probably stronger now. I don't know where this leaves us, but…Dean, I don't know what he's going to do now, but I don't think it's gonna be good."

"Don't worry, Sammy, we'll figure this out, roll with the punches like we always do," Dean tried to reassure him and Sam tried to pretend he _was_ reassured, but it almost made him feel worse. Lucifer had made it clear that Sam wasn't the one who was going to get the brunt of the devil's wrath—he was just going to have to watch the repercussions happen to the people he cared about.

"I'm worried about what he might do to Gabriel too," Sam said, reaching up to run an anxious hand through his hair.

Cas frowned and shook his head slowly. "I don't think Lucifer can harm Gabriel too much if he wants this pocket dimension to stay intact. And Gabriel can take care of himself; he always has."

Sam didn't miss the bitterness in Cas' voice, and thought briefly about talking to him about his obviously strained relationship with his older brother at a later date, but right now he was too worried for any kind of friendly conversation.

"I just hate not being able to do anything," Sam sighed. "We're just stuck here like sitting ducks."

"I know," Dean agreed. "And that's why we're going to come up with a better plan. And this time, it's going to be something Lucifer won't see coming."

Sam nodded, but in his mind's eye, he could almost see Lucifer grinning at them in their naïveté. He wasn't sure he had the capacity to find that confidence right now.

_~~~~~~~_

_Gabriel knelt beside Kali's_ crumpled form as Sam was dragged from the room, and reached down to press his palm against her chest. She was still alive, but obviously drained.

He looked up to see Lucifer standing over him, a pleased, yet dangerous, expression on his face. Anger flared through Gabriel and he stood, fists clenching. "What did you do?"

Lucifer shrugged his shoulders like he was stretching his wings. "What can I say? I needed a pick-me-up. The power from Pagan deities isn't nearly as good as grace, but they do offer a supercharged sort of quality. Kind of like adding nitrous to an engine."

Gabriel shook his head. "You didn't have to do that, she was already unable to access her powers."

"Of course I did," Lucifer said simply. "She was trying to escape, not that I thought for a minute she would actually succeed, but the point is I don't take kindly to defiance."

He stepped carelessly over Kali's fallen form and crowded into Gabriel who stood his ground, wishing, not for the first time that his vessel was taller and that he didn't have to look up to meet his brother's eyes.

"And you, Gabriel, you plotted against me as well. Your own brother. That wounds me."

He struck out and slammed his palm into Gabriel's chest, sending him flying back against the wall. Gabriel slammed into it hard enough to knock the breath from him and was kept pinned there by Lucifer's powers. His brother's eyes were glowing red as he stalked toward Gabriel, his hand held out. Gabriel opened his mouth to try and talk Lucifer out of whatever he had planned, but let out a scream instead as power shot through Lucifer's palm and slammed into his chest, burning into his true form.

"Maybe next time you'll remember not to defy me," Lucifer said and increased the power until Gabriel was sure he would be blown apart. His back arched off the wall; this pain was one of the most excruciating things he'd ever felt in his life.

And then suddenly, the walls started to show cracks and plaster fell from the ceiling. The floor rumbled and Lucifer, confused, stopped his torturing. Almost instantly, the rumbling stopped and the cracks retreated into smooth wall again. Gabriel was mildly interested, but really he was just glad the agony had stopped. He had the sudden disorienting feeling of his grace bouncing back from an assault, trying to surge into him to fix what was injured. But of course it couldn't heal him, not with…

It was then he realized that because his grace was tied up in the pocket dimension, their surroundings had started to show the wear from Lucifer's assault just as he did. Lucifer couldn't do anything to Gabriel if he wanted the pocket dimension to stay intact.

Lucifer seemed to have realized the same thing because he sneered and waved a hand, releasing Gabriel from his hold to crumple to the ground.

"Let that be a reminder," he hissed and strode from the room.

Gabriel lay panting for a moment, trying to regain his bearings before he pushed himself upright with trembling arms. He could feel his grace realigning itself with the pocket dimension, building up the walls again from the attack. Gabriel wished he could channel it into healing his body, but didn't have the energy to even try right now.

After a couple minutes of recovery, he crawled over to Kali who was finally stirring.

"Hey," he murmured, cupping the side of her face. She didn't do much more than flutter her eyelids weakly before she seemed to fall unconscious again. Gabriel bit his lip, wondering just how much damage Lucifer had done by draining her powers. Would she recover eventually like an angel, or was this permanent? Either way, he wasn't going to leave her lying here in the middle of the floor. With an embarrassing amount of effort, Gabriel finally got to his feet, simply scooping Kali up into his arms.

He carried her down the hall to his room and placed her on the bed, tucking her in under the covers, before he pulled a stool over and sat down, propping himself against the wall. He knew he should probably go powwow with the Winchesters, but he didn't have the energy at the moment and it was probably better for all of them if Lucifer didn't catch them conspiring again tonight. He knew whatever was coming next was going to be bad; the only thing he could do was be ready for it.

_~~~~~~~_

_Sam and the others_ didn't sleep that night. They sat up talking for a while, wondering if Gabriel would show up to update them, but when he didn't, they regrouped to the barracks and simply lay there quietly in the dark with the other fighters, sleepless and anxious about what was to come.

He got up really early and bathed before anyone else was up, hoping it would clear his mind, but by the time he got back to the ludus, the whole place was already in an uproar over the day's festivities. He glanced over at the sound of a raised voice and saw Flavius arguing with two guys who were hauling a large crate from the back of a wagon.

"I don't know what we're expected to do with this," the lanista protested. "We don't have any beast fights lined up for today!"

"You do now."

Sam's flesh chilled as he saw Lucifer walk into the room, and Flavius suddenly stiffened and saluted. "Hail Emperor Lucifer," he stuttered.

Lucifer nodded and smirked. "Yes, you see, this was delivered under my orders, I have a proposition for you—a special entertainment for today." He glanced past Flavius' shoulder toward Sam and looked him right in the eye as if glad to know he was listening in. Sam felt nausea well up inside of him as he saw the dangerous glint in the devil's gaze.

"Hey!"

Sam was broken from the moment as he was shoved in the shoulder by another gladiator and stumbled. "You're supposed to be back there getting ready," the man said. "Come on!"

Sam cast one more glance back at Lucifer and Flavius, who was looking more and more upset, as if wanting to protest but obviously not being able to in front of Lucifer; and then Sam was hustled back with the rest of the gladiators, meeting up with Dean and Cas again.

They hurried over to meet him instantly.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked.

"I don't know," Sam said with a frown, worry still gnawing a hole in his gut. "Lucifer showed up with some…delivery. Flavius doesn't look that happy about it."

Cas frowned. "Whatever it is it can't be good. Sam, you have to be very careful."

"So do you!" Sam insisted before he heard himself hailed from across the room. He looked up and his breath caught in his throat as he saw Flavius standing there with Lucifer and a couple praetorian guards.

"Sam," Flavius said, still looking incredibly disgruntled. "Come."

Sam shared a worried glance with Dean and Cas and crossed the room, regretting every step that took him closer to Lucifer.

"Sam, the emperor has…invited you into his own private box today to watch the show," Flavius said.

"We had such a good time last night, I wished to have you by my side again today," Lucifer told him with a slight smirk. "You will make a most enjoyable companion." Sam jerked away in disgust as Lucifer mockingly reached out to touch his cheek. Did he have to make this worse than it already was?

"Wouldn't you rather have me fight in your honor?" Sam bit out through clenched teeth, pretending to play his part.

"Oh no, Sam. I want you to have front row seats to see everything," Lucifer told him and Sam felt chilled to his bone, frantically shooting glances back at Dean and Cas who were listening to everything, fury on their faces.

"If you hurt them," Sam hissed. "I will _never_ say yes."

"Then maybe you should consider this the optimal time to give me your answer," Lucifer replied, taking his shoulder. "Now, it's about to start. We wouldn't want to miss the pre-show."

Sam cast a look at Flavius though knew the man, just as much a fabrication as this universe, wouldn't do anything. All the lanista gave him was a disgruntled, regretful look with maybe some amount of sympathy, but he didn't raise his voice to stop Lucifer.

Lucifer led Sam up into the stands and emerged into his box to the roar of the crowd. Lucifer smiled at Sam. "It's nice to have someone give me the respect I rightly deserve."

"Yeah," Sam snorted. "You can have anything you want if you create your own world."

Lucifer sighed and took his seat. He motioned for Sam to do the same in a chair beside his. Sam didn't want to but the guards crowded behind him and Lucifer looked up lazily, though with hard steel underneath the gaze. "It's your choice whether you want to obey or not, Sam, but don't think I'm not tallying up every little defiance for later reference."

Sam clenched his fists in helpless fury but knew Lucifer was as good as his word and didn't want anything else to happen to Dean and Cas just because of his pride. He sat down and Lucifer gave him an almost fond look.

"Don't get me wrong, Sam, I love the defiance—on you it looks good. That's one of the things I like most about you. That fire, that angst…it will help us both when we're finally together as we're meant to be."

"Like I said before, don't hold your breath." Sam glanced around and was surprised and a little worried to see that Gabriel wasn't there, hovering around with a tray. A woman instead came over with a tray of wine and grapes and handed a glass to Lucifer and then one to Sam who simply set it aside.

"Oh, Sam. You just don't understand any of this, do you." Lucifer chuckled almost pityingly. "All of this was written a long time ago. Me having to kill my brother, you and your brother being the vessels. Even though you both tried to rebel, and Dean has yet to say yes to Michael, doesn't mean anything has really changed. These things will come to pass. Maybe not in the way originally intended, but they will happen."

Sam clenched his jaw, glancing with little interest down at the two fighters currently on the field. It wasn't Dean and Cas and therefore he didn't give it any thought.

"Where's Gabriel?" he finally asked.

"Oh, don't worry about him, he's only tending to his pagan whore," Lucifer sneered. "He can't protect you, you know. Not from me. My little brother may have good intentions but he's not as strong as I am. Case in point." He smiled, motioning vaguely to their surroundings. "Not that he would really bother anyway, if push comes to shove. Gabriel just wants all of this to be over. Always has. Doesn't have the backbone for a real fight. He always takes the easy way out."

Sam turned to Lucifer, anger on Gabriel's behalf welling inside of him. "Why? Just because he refuses to kill his brother? Take it from someone who knows—just because you make the decision to walk away doesn't mean you give up caring. Gabriel's here now for a reason. And he's decided to be on our side."

"Yes," Lucifer sighed, almost regretfully, Sam thought. "Which is why I will eventually have to destroy him too, as well as Michael."

Sam clenched his jaw and turned away, seeing the fight was done now and the victor was celebrating while the other man limped off the field. Lucifer leaned forward then and smiled. "Now, Sam, you may want to pay attention to this next one."

Sam stiffened as he saw the next fighters come out. Dean and Cas. Both of them wearing only the scant leather armor gladiators typically wore, without helmets or shields. Sam's breath stalled in his throat, his heart quickening as all the entrances to the arena were being closed, cutting off any escape. Were they going to be forced to fight to the death? Or was Lucifer planning something worse?

"Have you ever heard about the man-eating tigers, Sam?" Lucifer asked, startling Sam out of his dark thoughts. He plucked several grapes from a tray held by a servant beside him, rolling one in his fingers before popping it into his mouth.

"What?" the hunter frowned.

Lucifer smirked at him. "Once tigers get a taste for human flesh they can't get enough. They will keep attacking humans until they themselves are killed."

"What are you talking about?" Sam demanded cautiously.

Lucifer's smirk widened. "I had one delivered to the arena today as a special treat for my audience. It has the taste for human flesh, and is very hungry—hasn't been fed for days." He squeezed another grape between his fingers and this one popped with a small wet sound.

Sam's stomach dropped. No…

"We'll see how well your brother and the angel fight," Lucifer said, flicking the destroyed grape away and waved his hand.

A gate to one side of the arena opened and Dean and Cas spun around to see what it was. The crowd let out a collective gasp as a tiger slinked out onto the field.

Sam rose to try and shout at them, run to help—he didn't know, he just wanted to do _something._ But Lucifer simply waved a hand and Sam felt himself slammed back into his seat, kept there by Lucifer's powers. He jerked and tried to get out but it was no use.

"Sit and enjoy the show, Sam," Lucifer told him but there was only darkness in his voice. "And remember this for the next time you think of crossing me. It will only get worse from here."

Sam could only watch in horror, helpless as the fight started in front of him.

_~~~~~~~_

_Dean watched helplessly_ as Sam was dragged off by Lucifer and his guards. He started to follow but Cas grabbed his arm, hauling him back.

"Dean, that's not going to get us anywhere here," he said in a low, firm voice, but the tightness of his grip told Dean that the angel was also angry at their separation. "Lucifer will only find reason to punish us if we're seen attacking him or his guards by the denizens of this world and it will not go well."

Dean tightened his jaw in fury, but didn't have the time to protest before Flavius came over to them, having the decency to at least look disgruntled.

"Well, it looks like you two are on again today," he grunted as a slave brought Dean and Cas their armor. "And the emperor…well, he ordered a special fight. I'm not happy about it, you're some of my best fighters, after all, but we can't exactly go against his wishes. So…just do what you can to stay alive."

Dean's mouth gaped as he followed Flavius' retreating figure with his eyes. "Stay alive…what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Cas looked just as disgruntled as the slaves helped him buckle his armor on and moved to do the same with Dean. "I don't know. But I guess we'll find out soon."

Dean accepted the sword handed to him, but that was all. No shield, no helmet; just the sword and the puny leather armor that hardly counted for anything.

Once they were kitted out, they were hustled to the arena opening, and watched the fighters before them finish. Dean was a knot of nerves, wondering just what Lucifer had planned. Was he going to make him and Cas fight to the death? Not that they would, but if Lucifer threatened Sam…Dean shook his head sharply. He didn't want to think about the absolute crapfest they were in right now.

The other gladiators came off the field and then one of the handlers motioned impatiently for Dean and Cas to take their place in the arena. The hunter and the angel glanced at each other, and stepped out to the roar from the crowd. Dean glanced up to Lucifer's box, and just barely saw Sam sitting stiffly by the devil's side.

He jerked back around as the sound of grating metal echoed across the arena and he saw that they were closing all the entrances back into the barracks.

"The hell?" Dean demanded.

Cas frowned. "This doesn't look good."

The crowd was waiting impatiently for what was to come, and some of them started to jeer, thinking Cas and Dean were supposed to be fighting each other, but they had been given no instructions to do so. Dean turned to glower up at Lucifer but he was just sitting there, one fist propping up his chin, watching with apparently just as much anticipation as the rest of the crowd. Sam was struggling in his chair beside the devil, but seemed unable to move, probably because Lucifer was holding him there. None of this set up to make Dean feel better about the situation.

And then a grate to one side of the arena was being hauled open and Dean and Cas both turned around to face it with bated breath, wondering what was about to walk through. Was it another fighter? Some kind of monster?

He was almost relieved when he saw a seemingly normal tiger prowl out into the arena, goaded by men inside with long spears, but the gasp from the crowd, cheers and boos alike, made him feel more cautious.

"Is it just the tiger?" Dean asked, not sure whether he should be underwhelmed or not.

And then the tiger lunged forward.

"Dean!" Cas cried as he readied his sword and the two of them leapt out of the way as the tiger made a swift turn, snarled and crouched low, stalking them more cautiously. Holy crap, that thing was fast!

"What do we do?" Dean demanded.

"We fight it," Cas said simply. "Tigers won't attack if you're looking them in the eye, so as long as one of us keeps eye contact—"

But even as he spoke the tiger bolted forward and went directly for the angel. Cas staggered back, lashing out with his sword, but the tiger was too fast and had already veered off to one side, snapping its teeth in fury.

"You were saying?" Dean demanded.

Cas looked disgruntled. "Well, normally tigers don't attack if they see you watching them…"

"Well, I think we can assume this tiger is not normal since Lucifer had it put in here in the pocket dimension _he_ currently has control of," Dean grunted. "Maybe our best plan would just be to attack it." He lunged forward before Cas could stop him.

"Dean, don't!" the angel cried, but Dean was already on his way, sword held high. He shouted out a battle cry and plunged his blade toward the tiger's flank.

The large cat whipped around ridiculously quickly though and swiped with a paw, catching Dean across the thigh. He staggered back with a yelp and the tiger pounced. Dean just barely rolled in time to stop the tiger's jaws clamping around his throat. Instead the cat got a mouthful of the armor protecting his shoulder. Well at least it was good for something. The problem was, the tiger didn't want to let go and was shaking him so hard it felt like his arm was going to be ripped from its socket.

"Son of a bitch!" he yelled, slamming his hobnailed sandal into the tiger's side, trying to get it to release but it had a death grip on him.

The only good thing about this was that he was providing a distraction for Cas to come up and plunge his sword into its side.

That was the obviously the plan anyway. Unfortunately, it didn't work out.

The tiger saw the angel coming and let go of Dean for a second to dodge sideways so that Cas' sword only grazed it along the ribs instead of plunging into its heart.

Dean scrambled away, wincing as he stood on his injured leg. The wounds had already been caked with the sand from the arena floor but at least that had stopped the bleeding a little. He reached down to grab his dropped sword to aid Cas.

The angel was dodging the tiger's swipes just as well as the big cat was dodging the blows from his sword but Dean was sure it wouldn't last forever. He lunged in, lashing out and catching the tiger across the haunch with a deep cut.

"Gotcha," he growled.

The tiger whipped around and threw itself at Dean. He canted to the side, trying to get his sword up to stab the beast, but it brought him down on his stomach, face first in the dirt. Dean was blinded, mouth and eyes full of sand, and he fumbled for his sword, trying to blink the sand from his eyes as claws raked over his back.

He screamed in agony, feeling the hot blood seep into his torn tunic. He heard Cas yell for him and tried to crawl away from the tiger when more claws dug into his lower back and hip before the beast rolled him onto his back. Dean saw the blurry, fanged mouth hovering over his throat before another figure flew into his vision, slamming into the tiger with a flash of steel.

Dean rolled into an upright position and wiped his eyes on his sleeve, his back burning with agony. He gritted his teeth as he forced himself upright, seeing Cas go after the tiger alone.

"Cas! Be careful!" he pleaded as he bent for his sword.

Cas dodged the tiger with a full body leap, sliding several feet on his side like a baseball player as he swung his sword around and finally managed to stab it into the tiger's side.

The tiger made an animalistic scream of agony and thrashed, dislodging the sword from its side before it simply pounced on the angel, jaws clamping around the space between his neck and shoulder on the side that didn't have armor protecting it. Cas cried out and clawed at the tiger's face, going for its eyes, which only caused the tiger to shake him, worrying the wound more.

"Cas!" Dean yelled, finally snatching his sword again and managing a staggering run.

That was when the tiger switched its hold to one of Cas' clawing arms and dug its teeth into his forearm, shoving Cas down with a huge paw to his chest before raking Cas open with its claws. Blood spurted and decorated the sand with splashes of crimson.

"No!" Dean shouted, lunging forward. "Cas!"

The angel screamed and writhed on the ground in agony as Dean slammed into the tiger, throwing it off balance and away from Cas' prone form.

The tiger whipped around and got on top of Dean, jaws open in fury, but this time he was ready. Dean simply slammed his sword up into the tiger's gaping mouth, right up to his own wrist, the teeth scraping against his skin.

The tiger made a choked sound and then its eyes finally glazed over and it slumped, limp and heavy on top of Dean.

Dean closed his eyes taking a moment to draw in a breath as the crowd shouted out their approval. He then struggled to shove the beast's body off of him and somehow managed to get to his hands and knees, crawling over to Cas.

"Cas, dammit," he breathed as he collapsed next to his friend. The angel lay pale and covered in blood, eyes mostly closed, twitching slightly as pained whimpers escaped his throat. Dean watched even more blood well up from his chest and abdomen, which had deep furrows in it from the tiger's claws. Dean shoved his hands against the crimson tide, bunching Cas' tunic up in an attempt to stop the bleeding but it was pointless.

Cas let out a gurgling whimper. "Dean…"

"Shh, don't try to talk, Cas…oh god," he glanced toward the entrance to the barracks, seeing the gates opening again. "We need a medic! Come on!"

His hands were already soaked in Cas' blood and it was still welling up, as he helplessly continued to press down. He glanced up toward the box where Lucifer sat and saw the archangel watching with amusement as Sam sat pale with horror at his side. Dean shot the devil a look of piercing hatred before he turned to the men who were arriving with a stretcher to carry Cas on.

Whatever needed to happen, Dean just knew they needed to get out now.


	6. Chapter 6

Sam watched in helpless agony as the tiger attacked his brother and best friend, leaping on top of Dean and tearing his back open.

"Stop this," he ground out, jerking in his seat, still refusing to believe that he wasn't going to get anywhere by doing so.

"You know how you can stop this, Sam," Lucifer said with a careless shrug, a cruel smile on his face as he watched Dean and Cas struggling against the tiger in the arena below.

Sam ground his teeth and fisted his hands against the arms of the chair. "No."

"Well, then you're the only one to blame," Lucifer told him and nodded to the arena.

Sam heard a cry and watched in horror as the tiger pounced on Cas, bringing the angel down hard with its teeth around his shoulder. Then it raked its claws down Cas' torso and the angel let out an agonized scream.

"No!" Sam shouted, his voice lost as the crowd gasped and cried out in either approval or fury. His heart was pounding in his throat, seeing Cas lying still on the ground, covered in blood, as Dean leapt forward with his sword and stabbed it directly into the tiger's open mouth. Sam didn't bother breathing a sigh of relief that the beast was dead. Not with Cas still lying there, unmoving.

Dean was shouting and not too long after that several of the men from the barracks came out with a stretcher and hauled Cas away, Dean limping along as well. Sam needed to see them, he tugged harder at the psychic bonds that Lucifer held him with.

"Hmm," the archangel shook his head, ignoring Sam's struggles. "Poor Castiel didn't look so good. With no powers and Roman era medical treatments…probably not the best chance of surviving if he hasn't already lost too much blood." Sam refused to look at him, face fixed with fury at the arena exit his brother and the angel had disappeared into, leaving a trail of blood in the sand to mark their way. He felt Lucifer lean in close to him and fought back a shudder. "You know, Sam, if you said yes to me right now, we could go heal him _and_ your brother. And we could forget this whole thing. No one else would have to get hurt."

Sam clenched his jaw. Cas could be dying, but there was still no way in hell he could say yes. The consequences were way too steep. And he also wasn't stupid enough to think that once Lucifer had control of his body he wouldn't just kill Dean and Cas on principle.

"You know my answer," Sam snapped, furious that the fallen archangel had put him in such an impossible position.

Lucifer sighed and pulled away, standing up. "Then I guess I'll have to come up with another way to make you see my side of things, Sam. But be warned: you'll probably like that one even less." He waved his hand and Sam felt the invisible bonds release. He took a deep breath and stood up, facing down Lucifer who simply stared at Sam like what the hunter was to him—a gnat.

"Go see your brother and the angel," he said patronizingly. "And think about what you learned here today."

Sam's fists clenched, and his lip curled in a snarl. "I will kill you. That's a promise. Think about that."

Lucifer just smiled infuriatingly. Sam gave in and hurried out of the stadium and back down to the barracks. He found his way to the infirmary and shoved through several people loitering around to get into a back room where he could hear Dean's raised voice.

"You gotta clean the wounds! Get some wine or anything with alcohol!" Dean shouted and a servant flew past Sam as he forced his way into the room.

Flavius was gripping Dean by the shoulder as Sam's brother was standing from the cot he was sitting on, his tunic pulled down to his waist in order to get to the wounds on his back. A disgruntled medical assistant was standing nearby with a bloody rag and a bowl of water.

"Calm down, son, they know what they're doing. Now let them take care of your wounds," the lanista was saying.

"They don't know crap!" Dean snarled and looked up, relief in his eyes as he saw Sam. "Sammy, thank god."

"Where's Cas? How is he?" Sam asked, scrutinizing Dean's injuries in a glance. They looked painful, one set of clawmarks across his shoulder blades, another over his right lower back and hip and some more on his thigh—but none of them were bleeding profusely, though some of the deeper ones should probably be stitched.

"It's bad," Dean said, his face grim as he fought to stand up again but Flavius shoved him back down and applied a rag to his wounds, trying to wash the sand from them, making Dean grunt. "They've got him in there, but they won't let me see him."

"I told you you can as soon as you stop bleeding like a stuck pig!" the lanista snapped. "I'm not happy with losing two of my best fighters in one day either."

"Screw the fights," Dean snarled. "Cas is a friend!"

"I got him, Dean, just stay here and get bandaged up," Sam tried to appeal.

"No way in hell; _you_ can do it as soon as I see Cas. I'm not letting some Roman era sawbones touch me." The medic threw his hands up in defeat and finally let Dean stand up, yanking his tattered tunic back in place.

"Fine, it's your funeral," Flavius grunted and left the room as well, shouting at the loitering servants.

Sam offered Dean a steadying hand as they went to the tiny surgery, pulling back the curtain that was the only thing that separated it from the main infirmary ward.

Sam's breath caught in his throat. Cas lay on a table in the middle of the room as, presumably the doctor, prodded at his injuries. The angel flinched and moaned, trying to pull away. Blood still seeped from the wounds, dripping down Cas' sides onto the table.

"Cas!" Dean cried, staggering forward.

The doctor glared at him. "I'll be able to work faster if you stay out of my way."

"No way," Dean said firmly. "Sam and I will take care of him. Just get us wine, needle and thread, and bandages."

The doctor looked offended. "Now, see here…"

"Now! Before he bleeds to death!" Dean snapped, grabbing a clean cloth from the side table and pressing it against the worst wounds in Cas' stomach. The angel's back arched and he cried out. Sam went to stand by his head and put a steadying hand on his shoulder as the doctor gave a huff but thankfully left to get what they needed.

"Son of a bitch," Dean muttered as he lifted the cloth to inspect the wounds. Sam glanced at them too and felt bile rise in his throat. Cas' wounds were a lot deeper than Dean's. Sam didn't even want to look too hard at the ones in his stomach, afraid he might see things he wasn't supposed to be able to. Cas let out a whimper as Dean replaced the cloth, the angel's face was deathly pale and creased in agony. Sam swallowed hard and gently placed a hand on the side of Cas' neck that wasn't full of puncture holes from the tiger's teeth, trying to offer some comfort.

"Cas, I'm sorry," he whispered, pain and helpless frustration building up inside of him.

"Sammy," Dean said warningly. "You can't blame yourself for this."

"But it's my fault!" Sam insisted. "Lucifer did this to teach me a lesson."

"S-Sam."

Sam looked down with surprise and saw Cas' eyes open just a little, the usually bright blue dulled with pain. He leaned closer to hear the angel and Cas said, "Don't…don't blame you."

"Cas," Sam sighed, distressed and grateful at the same time. He didn't know what to say, shaking his head and blinking back tears before he simply squeezed the side of Cas' neck in thanks, even though _he_ still fully blamed himself for their friend's predicament, it did help a little to know that Cas didn't.

The doctor came back in with one of his assistants, both of them carrying the things Dean had requested.

"Finally," Dean said, motioning to a table with a bunch of antiquated medical instruments. "Just put it there and get me some fresh, boiling water."

Sam noticed his brother moving stiffly and frowned. "Dean, are you sure you don't want me to do this? You're hurt pretty bad."

"I'm gonna need your help stitching," Dean said as he grabbed the jug of wine and poured some over a cloth. "Cas, this is gonna hurt."

The angel didn't seem to believe him, or maybe he was too out of it for Dean's words to register, because as soon as the cloth descended onto his wounds Cas' eyes flew wide and he screamed. The doctor helped Sam hold him, and the assistant medic grabbed a strop of leather from the table for Cas to bite.

"Sorry, man, I'm sorry," Dean muttered and Sam saw the tight agony in his brother's face. Dean was a caretaker, he always had been, but he hated having to hurt the people he cared about even if it was ultimately for their own good. Sam tried to comfort Cas as well as he could as Dean continued to alternately put pressure on Cas' wounds and clean them out. They still gushed blood though, and Dean ultimately gave up with a curse and put pressure on the wounds instead.

"Dammit! The bleeding isn't stopping," he ground out as Cas let out a weak moan. "Where the hell is Gabriel?!"

"I don't know," Sam said, trying to stay calm. "We need to stitch him up."

The doctor shook his head. "It won't do any good. He'll bleed out before you get all those wounds closed. You're going to need to cauterize the worst of the injuries if he's even going to have a chance of making it through the next hour."

Sam blanched and looked up at the doctor. "What? No! This is an open abdominal wound, you're just going to trap any bacteria from out here inside the wounds—it will increase the risk of septicemia," he added, hoping the Roman doctor would at least understand what that meant.

The doctor nodded to Dean. "Not so much risk of that after the proper cleaning. See?" He added as Dean glanced up at him, surprised. "I know more than you give me credit for. Besides, rather the risk of a septic wound than the surety of death by blood loss."

Dean's face was pale and tight as his hands continued to hold in the precious little blood Cas had left. "Sammy, he's right."

Sam blanched. "What? Dean, it will be agonizing!"

"We've done it before," Dean said. "I don't like it either, but Cas…Cas isn't gonna make it if we don't stop this bleeding," he hissed, his voice breaking slightly and Sam felt his throat tighten, glancing back down at the badly wounded angel.

"You're right," Sam said after clearing his throat. "Let's just…let's just get it over with."

Dean nodded to the doctor who went to the stove in the next room and heated a brand. When he came back with the glowing iron instrument Sam nearly vomited but held himself together because he knew it was going to get worse. He remembered their dad cauterizing a cut on Dean's leg once when they had gotten stranded in the woods, hunting a wendigo. Dad had ordered thirteen-year-old Sam to hold his brother down and Sam had done it, but he would never forget it. His brother rarely showed such raw agony, but his scream, the smell of burnt flesh…it would haunt Sam forever. And this would only be worse.

Dean glanced at him and nodded. Sam bit the inside of his cheek and took up position opposite the medical assistant, both of them pressing Cas against the table so he wouldn't be hurt worse. The doctor handed Dean the brand after a look, and instead leaned his weight against Cas' legs.

"Cas, I'm sorry," Dean muttered as he finally released his pressure on the wounds, pulling the rags aside.

Sam squeezed his eyes shut as Dean pressed the brand to Cas' stomach, and the angel's scream shattered the last of Sam's hold on his pent-up emotions.

_~~~~~~~_

_Gabriel startled awake_ as Kali moaned. He'd actually fallen asleep—yikes, Lucifer really had done a number on him. Not to mention the fact that the pocket dimension had probably redirected even more of his power to sustain itself after the accidental near collapse the night before.

"Gabriel?"

The archangel shook the exhaustion from his head and leaned forward, reaching out to put a hand on Kali's arm.

"Kali? Hey, how do you feel?"

She frowned, as if taking stock of herself and then pulled herself into a sitting position, swaying slightly.

"Whoa," Gabriel said, setting a hand on her shoulder to steady her. "Easy."

She shrugged his hand off but made no move to go farther than sitting against the headboard. "What happened?"

Gabriel sighed. "Lucifer made our escape. He um…he did something to you. Can you feel your powers?"

He waited with bated breath as Kali closed her eyes. "Yes," she finally said, giving Gabriel a little relief. "But they are weaker than before." Her eyes flashed dangerously as she opened them again. "I will skin him alive for this the next chance I get."

"Will you recover?" Gabriel asked anxiously.

"Eventually my powers will recharge, but not while they're suppressed; not in here."

Gabriel sat back. "Well, at least he didn't do permanent damage."

She spun around to glare at him. "No, but I won't be able to perform any spell to get us out of here now, not even a simple one! Before I could still somewhat access my powers using a back-door method, but now…" She shook her head. "I should have just left. I never should have trusted you to help me with this."

"Hey, this is not all on me!" Gabriel protested, tired of taking the blame for everything that had happened in this damn place. He already regretted ever coming up with this plan in the first place, he didn't need people to keep reminding him how badly it had bombed. "We'll find another way out of here, but we're going to need to work carefully and work together. Lucifer obviously has eyes and ears everywhere, so the utmost caution would be a good place to start!"

"I'm not the one who's always going around relaying information," Kali snapped.

Gabriel sighed, running a hand over his face. "Kali, please, can we not fight right now? Besides, I may have another way out of here."

Before he could relay to her what he had been thinking, footsteps sounded in the hallway outside, and Gabriel was instantly on alert as the door swung open, revealing Lucifer. Kali glowered at him as Gabriel stood up.

"You," the Indian goddess snarled, but Gabriel held out his hand toward her, stepping between her and Lucifer.

"Kali, not now," he pleaded quietly.

"That's right, learn your place like a good pagan dog," Lucifer snipped.

Kali flung back the blanket and lurched from the bed, but she sagged almost instantly and Gabriel caught her. Lucifer tutted.

"Pathetic," he said.

Kali panted in fury as Gabriel held her upright, glaring at his brother. "What do you want, Luci?"

Lucifer cocked an eyebrow. "Again with the attitude, Gabriel. I did warn you to be careful about that, especially now after you all tried to deceive me. Don't forget, I can so easily crush this pitiful excuse for a goddess you seem to care so much for. I've only kept her around this long in case I needed to teach just such a lesson—wouldn't be the first one I have taught today."

Gabriel's stomach suddenly plummeted. The Winchesters, Cas…They were in on this too—what could Lucifer have done to them?

"What did you do?" Gabriel demanded coldly.

Lucifer shrugged. "Sam Winchester needed a little push, I instigated one."

"What did you do, Lucifer?" Gabriel asked slowly, trying to keep the agitation from his voice.

"Let's just say Sam might think twice next time he plans to refuse me now that he has seen what a man-eating tiger can do in the arena. It's a shame, really, how quickly angels fall."

Angels? Castiel. Gabriel felt sick. He clutched Kali to him subconsciously, as Lucifer smirked and left the room.

Once he got his brain back in gear, Gabriel set Kali back on the bed. "I have to go. Just…stay here, and try to stay out of trouble, for once."

Kali glowered at him, but nodded. It wasn't like she was going to get far even if she tried, for which Gabriel was actually thankful at the moment.

He raced out of the palace and toward the gladiator barracks. As soon as he got inside, he spotted the lanista, Flavius, directing several of his men and ran over to him.

"Where are they?" he demanded.

"Who?" Flavius asked, looking at him like he was nuts. Gabriel grabbed the front of his tunic roughly.

"Your fighters! Sam and Dean, and Castiel, dammit!" Gabriel demanded.

"Infirmary," Flavius said, shoving him away and nodding to one side.

Gabriel darted off, bursting into the room. There were a couple gladiators lounging on the beds in the ward, but neither of them was Cas. Then Gabriel spun around at the sound of retching and saw Sam leaning over a bucket, throwing up.

"What happened?" he demanded.

Sam wiped his mouth, pale as snow, and pointed a shaking hand at the curtained-off area as he rubbed his face on his tunic sleeve. "It's Cas," he said softly.

The younger Winchester's reaction did not bode well and Gabriel flung the curtain aside.

He came to an abrupt stop at the scene that greeted him. Castiel was laid out on the surgery table, his chest and stomach slashed to ribbons. Bloody rags were everywhere surrounding the table, and it was obvious from the odd, shiny pink look to some of the wounds, and the lingering smell of burning flesh, that they had cauterized some. Dean leaned against the nearby table, face expressionless, as he drank from a jug that probably contained alcohol. The doctor was just finishing cleaning the excess blood from Cas' skin.

"What the hell happened?" Gabriel demanded, his fear over seeing his younger brother like this coming out in a burst of anger.

Dean finally looked up at him as Sam came into the room behind him again.

"Where the hell were you?" Dean demanded.

"Where was I? Where the hell were _you_?" Gabriel shouted back, motioning to the mercifully unconscious form of Castiel.

Dean slammed the jug of wine down on the table and started toward him, fury on his face. "I was in the arena with him, that's where! I killed the damn thing before it finished him off! But we could have used a little help with Lucifer, thanks very much!"

"Okay, look," Sam stepped in just as Gabriel opened his mouth to explain a few things to the older hunter, hands held out pleadingly. "We can't change what happened, but we can try to fix it now." He turned to Gabriel. "Can you heal him?"

"What part of 'Lucifer has blocked my powers' have you not heard this entire time we've been here?" Gabriel snapped.

"Oh, that's it, I am tired of your damn excuses," Dean snarled. "You won't do anything against Lucifer, and now you won't even heal your own brother who's quite possibly _dying_."

"I. Can't!" Gabriel shouted. "Don't think for a second that I wouldn't heal Cas right now if I could. What kind of brother do you take me for?"

"The kind that abandons his family just when they need him most!" Dean yelled.

Gabriel jerked back as if he had been slapped. But he recovered quickly and lunged forward, shoving Dean so hard, the insolent human slammed into the wall. "Don't you dare assume anything about me! Don't presume to know what I am!"

"What? That you're a coward?" Dean said blandly. "You spent all this time convincing us to do _our_ duty, play _our_ roles, and then you still walked away to let it happen without you! And now I finally think you grow a pair, and you abandon us all over again. So what the hell good are you to this picture at all?"

"You self-centered maggot," Gabriel snarled and drew a fist back, but Sam grabbed his arm.

"Stop! Both of you, stop! This isn't doing Cas any good!" Sam shouted and reached out to shove a hand against Dean's chest too.

Dean sagged almost instantly and Gabriel realized for the first time he was wounded too, the back of his tunic slashed open and stained red—some stains fresher than others.

"Now, Gabriel," Sam appealed. "Help us finish bandaging Cas up so we can get him into bed."

Gabriel nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, alright."

Gabriel accompanied them over to the table where the doctor was finishing up some stitches in the other wounds, having chosen to ignore their loud conversation. Gabriel bit his lip as he saw just how bad Cas' injuries were. He reached out and placed a hand on his brother's forehead, closing his eyes as he took stock of his vitals. Cas' breathing was extremely shallow, his heartbeat weak and fluttering like a wounded butterfly. He'd lost a crapton of blood too, maybe _too_ much with only the tiniest bit of his grace to sustain him. Gabriel swallowed hard and pulled his hand back.

"How is he?" Sam asked softly, surprising Gabriel with how worried he was. It seemed these guys really did care about his brother.

He pressed his lips into a thin line. "Not good," he admitted.

"And there's nothing you can do?" Dean asked, his voice tight as he was obviously trying to be reasonable.

Gabriel sighed heavily, reaching to pick up a cloth soaked in spirits to clean the bite marks in Castiel's shoulder. "No. He could probably use a blood transfusion but I don't know how we'd accomplish that."

"Let's just do what we can then," Dean said and grabbed for some bandages.

Gabriel glanced back at Cas' face—the angel already looked like death. He wasn't entirely sure that what they _could_ do would even do any good at this point.

_~~~~~~~_

_They didn't have tape obviously_ , so fixing Cas' bandages on, especially to his shoulder wasn't easy, and involved them having to hold him up, stressing his wounds more than they should have in order to wrap the bandages around his torso. But Dean was extremely glad by the time they were done.

Sam and Gabriel carried Cas to one of the cots as gently as possible. Dean had been glad that he'd passed out during the cauterization, but he was a little worried that Cas hadn't showed signs of consciousness since then. And with what Gabriel said…

He slumped down onto the cot next to Cas' and buried his head in his hands.

"Dean?" He looked up and saw Sam glancing over as he tucked a blanket lightly around Cas. "You okay?"

Dean gave him a look. "Not really."

Sam disappeared for a second and Dean was left staring at Gabriel who stood almost awkwardly by Cas' cot. The archangel was oddly unguarded in that moment, and Dean was able to see the anxiety hiding behind the lines in his face, the all-too-familiar worry for a brother. He felt a slight pang of regret for chewing him out earlier but Dean had been scared too, and he thought that probably Gabriel, as an older brother himself, could understand that.

Sam came back with more bandages and a bowl of water and dragged a stool over to sit between Dean and Cas' cots.

"Okay, I'm taking care of your wounds now, no arguments," Sam told his brother.

Dean rolled his eyes slightly, but was too tired to argue. As he tugged the ruined tunic off with a wince, Gabriel sighed and started slowly walking away.

"You're leaving?" Sam asked him.

Gabriel looked torn. "I don't want to risk leaving Lucifer alone too long. Or Kali, in case she does something royally stupid. And…" He glanced at Cas. "I know you'll look after him. Besides," he added with a shrug. "I think Cas would probably be happier to see you when he wakes up than me."

Dean saw Sam frown at that and he hoped his little brother wasn't going to try to have a heart to heart about family drama with the archangel, but instead his face softened and he said, "Gabriel…I'm sorry."

The archangel just looked at him and gave a small smile that didn't touch his eyes, and then he left.

Dean sighed and grabbed the crappy pillow on the bed, resting his chin and forearms on it as he settle onto his stomach so Sam could see to his wounds.

"Sammy, I told you you can't blame yourself for this."

"Cas is hurt really bad, Dean," Sam said. "And yeah, it's my fault. If I had just…" He shook his head, angrily wringing out a cloth into the bowl as he started on Dean's back, clearing away the dried blood.

Dean winced, but felt a prick of anger at his brother's stupidity. "If you'd just what? What would the alternative be in that situation, Sam? Saying yes to Lucifer? You know that's not the answer."

"I know," Sam replied, tightly. "But what exactly is the endgame here, Dean? How do we win? Because so far we've only seemed to make it worse, and the longer we stay here, the more pressure Lucifer is going to put on me. I don't know what I'm gonna do if he goes after you guys again."

"Don't do this, man," Dean said tiredly. "I know you're low, and you're upset about what happened to Cas, but you can't do this giving up hope crap. Not now. Our first attempt of getting out of here failed, yeah, but we'll think of something else."

"Then what?" Sam demanded. "Because we're still going to have to deal with Lucifer out there and we didn't have any clue of what to do before, so why would it be better now?"

"I don't know," Dean admitted truthfully. "But I do know that whatever it is, we're gonna do it together. You, me, Cas, Bobby—we're all that we have left. We're gonna take on this thing together, and if we die, we'll do that together too."

Sam swallowed hard and continued tending Dean's injuries. Dean lay there quietly. He didn't know if he'd gotten anything through his brother's hairy skull, but he did know that he wasn't gonna just let Sam give up. They might have been taken down a notch, but as long as they drew breath, they still had fight in them and they would take that fight to Lucifer if it was the last thing they did.


	7. Chapter 7

Sam sat on the stool with his back against the wall, watching over Dean and Cas as they slept on either side of him. He was exhausted but he wouldn't be able to sleep if he tried. Not with Cas barely alive, pale, every breath labored, and Dean twitching restlessly in his sleep with whimpers of pain every time his wounds pulled. Not with the worry that Lucifer could come in at any second and take them from him. Not that Sam would be able to do anything to stop him if he did, but he could try.

It was late and dark in the infirmary ward aside from a couple oil lamps that sat on a table nearby. Sam turned to check on Cas again, holding a hand right in front of his face to feel the small puffs of breath since he could hardly see the rise and fall of his chest. As he pulled his hand away, Dean shifted and moaned, and Sam reached out to readjust the blankets over his shoulders just as a figure stepped into the room.

Sam looked up, startled, but recognized Gabriel as the light from the lamp hit him. He sank back, adrenaline surging uselessly through his tired body as he rubbed a hand over his face.

"Hey," Gabriel said quietly, coming over and grabbing another stool before he took a seat on the other side of Cas' cot. "How is he?"

Sam shook his head. "Not much change."

Gabriel bit his lip and reached out to press a hand to Cas' forehead for a long second before pulling it away with a sigh. "For the record, I'm sorry this happened," he said, looking at his hands clasped in his lap.

"It's not your fault, not really," Sam said. "You did try."

"Yeah, but not hard enough, and not soon enough." Gabriel sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Truth is, Sam, your brother is right—I was a coward. Maybe I still am. Maybe I…maybe I should have been there for my family." He looked down at Cas with a sad, regretful expression. Sam could understand in a way. He'd left his family at times when he probably shouldn't have either. He wasn't exactly proud of it, but he had tried to make up for it and he could tell Gabriel was doing the same.

"You know, whatever happened before, Gabriel, you're here now and that's what matters." He motioned to Cas. "And when Cas gets better he'll realize that. Lucifer may be a lost cause, but I bet you have other brothers and sisters who still miss you."

Gabriel snorted derisively. "Yeah, I don't think Cas much cares what happens to me."

"Yeah, he does," Sam said with a small smile. "He's angry—that means he cares."

Gabriel studied the unconscious angel's face for a moment and his features softened just slightly. "Well, maybe you're right. But it doesn't mean anything if we don't get out of here alive."

Sam let out a long breath, looking up toward the ceiling, watching the shadows that the dancing flame from the lamp cast there. "You come up with any other plans?"

Gabriel shifted slightly, and Sam saw his discomfort out of the corner of his eyes. "Maybe. No good ones though."

Sam bit his lip and cautiously voiced what he had been thinking. "I have one. It's not really a good one either."

"It's probably better than mine," Gabriel muttered.

Sam took a deep breath, and glanced at Dean before he lowered his voice. "I thought I'd challenge Lucifer to a fight in the arena."

Gabriel's eyes blew wide. "Are you freaking insane?"

Sam let out a short humorless chuckle. "Yeah, probably. But I have to do something. If I can get him to honor a deal, then I may be able to get us all out of here."

"Using yourself as the bartering chip?" Gabriel asked blandly. "You think Lucifer will honor a deal like that? He only wants one thing, Sam—you. If you lose, he gets what he wants, and you'll be under his control. He'll likely kill the rest of us just for spite. If you win, he'll kill all of us to force your hand. It's a lose-lose situation!"

"I told you it wasn't a good plan," Sam said. "But what other option do we have? If we wait, he'll kill Dean and Cas and probably Kali too, and Cas needs help _now_. We don't really have a choice here."

Gabriel shook his head. "You know, you Winchesters are so insane you give me a run for my money. But I also kinda can't help but like you for it, you bastards." He sighed. "Look, I know I can't stop you, and I know it's gonna go bad, but I guess I'll give you my blessing. It's just crazy enough, that in the hands of a Winchester it might work—after all, you did beat me and that is definitely a feat."

Sam smiled slightly. He felt a little better that someone had okayed his plan even if it was Gabriel. He knew Dean wasn't going to like it, but Dean wasn't going to like how the rest of this war went either. The more he thought about it, Sam knew there was only one way to end this fight. Throw Lucifer back into Hell where he had come from. Sam didn't know how that was going to go, but it was a high probability that none of them would make it out of that fight alive.

"Well, thanks," he said.

Gabriel snorted. "Don't thank me. You'll probably die, or worse. I mean, Lucifer needs you alive, but it's not like he can't have some fun first, and trust me, you don't want to know what my brother considers fun."

Sam felt a small shudder go down his spine. "I can only imagine."

"No, you can't. And you'd do better not to try."

Sam swallowed hard, but stood up before he caused himself to change his mind. "Can you watch them? I—I need to go talk to him."

Gabriel looked at him like he was insane, but gave a small nod.

Sam turned and slipped out of the barracks, and toward the palace. The guards let him in without any fuss, and for some reason that gave Sam a more ominous feel than anything. It was almost as if Lucifer had been expecting him.

He stopped in the middle of the large atrium, and wondered where he would find Lucifer.

He shouldn't have worried because the devil, of course, found him.

"Sam. I'm so glad you came to see me."

Sam turned around and took in Lucifer, looking regal and more dangerous than usual in his rich Roman toga, the color of blood. Sam squared his shoulders and stood tall. He wasn't shorter than Lucifer, but the fallen archangel had a way of making him feel small, insignificant, as if he were nothing but a bug to be trodden underfoot.

"We need to talk," he said firmly.

Lucifer smiled, clasping his hands in front of him and raising an eyebrow in expectation. "Is that so? Is it possible you finally have an answer for me?"

Sam continued to meet his gaze firmly. "No. I came to make an offer."

Lucifer cocked his head to one side. "And what kind of offer might that be, Sam?"

"A fight," Sam said, feeling more confident as he went along. "Tomorrow in the arena. You and me."

Lucifer looked delighted. "And the terms?"

"If I win, you have to let us all go," Sam told him. "And if you win…" He wet his lips, glancing briefly at the floor before he returned his gaze to Lucifer's piercing eyes. "If you win, I'll say yes."

Lucifer chuckled. "You will? Is that a fact?"

Sam nodded once. "I'll go willingly. I give my word."

"Poor foolish boy," Lucifer continued to chuckle darkly, shaking his head. "And how do you think this will go for you, hm? I could kill you with a snap of my fingers and you think you have any chance of winning a fight against me?"

"No," Sam replied honestly. "That's why we're fighting with just weapon and skill. You'll give me your word that you won't use your powers during the fight."

Lucifer raised his eyebrows. "Clever."

Sam glowered at him. "Will you agree to the terms?"

Lucifer stepped closer to him and it took everything in Sam to stand his ground and not flinch away as the fallen archangel leaned forward, his breath cold against Sam's ear, sending a chill down his spine. "Just this once, I'll humor you by 'agreeing' to your terms, but remember, Sam: no matter how this fight ends, the ultimate outcome will still be the same. If you don't say yes to me here, you will later. I still think our ultimate meeting place will be Detroit." Sam felt ice in his veins. This was the second time Lucifer had mentioned that. "And think of all the damage I can do between now and then. You sure you don't want to forgo all that and say yes to me now? Forgo a lot of suffering for a lot of innocent people?"

Sam drew away and turned to stare back into Lucifer's smug face. "As long as I'm still alive, I'm going to try to find a way to stop you. As long as I still have that hope there's no way I'm saying yes."

Lucifer smiled in an annoyingly knowing way and simply shrugged. "Whatever makes you feel better, Sam." He waved a hand dismissively. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Sam turned quickly and left the palace. He wasn't sure he was doing the smart thing—in fact, he was definitely not—but he knew he was doing the only thing that he could.

Gabriel looked up at him as he slipped back into the infirmary ward. "Well?"

Sam nodded. "It's done. I'm fighting Lucifer tomorrow."

Gabriel simply nodded back and stood. "I should get back to Kali. But, uh…if I don't see you before the fight tomorrow…" He reached up and clapped Sam on the shoulder. "Good luck, kid. You're gonna need it."

"Thanks." Sam said, and resumed his seat between Dean and Cas. He really wished that it was tomorrow already. That way he wouldn't have to dwell on what might happen during the fight and just how many ways it could go wrong.

_~~~~~~~_

_Kali was sitting up in bed_ , reading a book when Gabriel got back to her. He was relieved to see her feeling a little better but her scowl told him she was still pissed.

"I didn't expect you back so soon," she told him then belatedly, "How is the little angel?"

Gabriel's face twisted up and his shoulders stiffened. "Not great," he said bluntly.

Kali looked at him curiously. "You actually care?" She sounded almost surprised and Gabriel bristled slightly at that.

"Well, he's my brother," he said and realized he meant it. Damn, he was going soft hanging around those Winchester assholes.

Kali snorted. "Well, it's good to know you have the capacity."

Gabriel sighed in frustration, holding his hands out appealingly. "Kali, what did I ever do to you to make you think everything between us was fake?"

She scoffed. "Of course you wouldn't remember."

Gabriel folded his arms across his chest. "Forgive me, but all I'm remembering right now is you hanging off of Baldur. And, oh yeah, you stabbing me in the fricken' heart. That's kind of blocking my memory."

She shook her head. "You know, I don't believe you sometimes."

"Well, right back at you, sweetheart!" Gabriel snapped.

"So you don't remember promising to take me to Paris and then going off to mess around and never coming back?"

Gabriel's eyebrows raised. "That's what this is about? Kali, by the time I was free, Paris was in the middle of a rebellion! And then…well, there was lots of unrest and then Nazi occupation."

"I would have enjoyed the Revolution," Kali told him.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "That's not really the point."

"No, it's not," Kali agreed and finally stood, a bit wobbly, but able to keep her feet as she sized him up. "You could have come back anyway. That was all I wanted. But no, you have too many commitment issues, you lied to me for centuries about who you really were, and then you just ran off without a by your leave because for you that was easier than admitting you can't hold a healthy relationship with someone!"

"Oh for the love of…Okay, alright, I have commitment issues. I'll admit that. But my identity…Kali, If I could have told you, you're one of the only people I would have trusted with that information, but there were multiple reasons why I couldn't do that. Reasons I still can't say. Just…I want you to know that one of the greatest regrets in my life is not telling you who I was from the start—even though I'm pretty sure if I had, you would have fried my wings extra crispy."

Kali folded her arms over her chest, lips pursed as if considering, but he could see he was finally breaking down some of her barriers. "But honestly?" he continued. "This isn't the time right now. When we get out of here, we can argue all you want, but we gotta _get out_ of here first."

Kali studied him. "You have a plan?"

Gabriel winced. "Sam's going to fight Lucifer tomorrow."

"Lucifer will kill him," Kali said simply. "And then the rest of us."

"I know," Gabriel said.

"Then what?"

He turned away, running a hand over his chin. "Let's just say I've kind of got a plan in my back pocket."

Kali huffed. "Gabriel, this isn't another one of your stupid suicidal plans, is it?"

Gabriel gave her his most charming smile. "Ah, you know me, sweetheart—those are the only kind I have."

She shook her head, and turned back to the bed, reaching under the thin mattress. Gabriel's eyes widened as he saw her pull out his own angel blade.

"How…"

"I found where Lucifer kept it and made a decoy before he completely stole my powers," she told him and rolled her eyes slightly as she admitted, "I got the idea from you."

Gabriel grinned and reached out to accept the blade. "Well, this will help a bit. If Sam can somehow manage to actually kill Lucifer in the fight tomorrow…hell, this whole thing will be over." Gabriel felt a slight twinge at the thought of his brother dead, but Lucifer was no longer his brother, not the one who had been there when he was a fledgling to teach him tricks and play practical jokes on Michael and Raphael. This Lucifer—the _true_ Lucifer, he had come to realize—was the reason he had left Heaven to begin with.

"Let's hope for the best then," Kali said.

"Yeah," Gabriel agreed. But he'd be lying if he said he wasn't still expecting the worse.

_~~~~~~~_

_Sam had just closed his eyes_ for a minute when Cas let out a moan and then he was instantly leaning over the angel, watching his eyes flutter as his head tossed to one side weakly.

"Cas?" Sam asked softly.

He heard Dean stir behind him and grunt as he sat up.

"Sammy? What's going on?"

"I think Cas is waking up," Sam said urgently, reaching out and clasping one of the angel's hands in his, squeezing gently. "Cas, hey, it's all right, can you hear me?"

Dean hauled himself upright and went to sit on the stool Gabriel had left next to Cas' cot the night before.

"Cas, buddy," he said. "Can you open your eyes?"

Cas finally did, the blue clouded slightly with pain and sleep, but he blinked several times and his lips parted, dry and cracked. A hoarse grunt escaped his throat, along with a choked off cough.

Sam hurriedly stood to grab a cup of water and Dean propped Cas' head up as Sam gently pressed the cup to his lips. Cas sipped some of the water gratefully, coughed a couple times with a wince and then closed his eyes, just breathing for a couple long second before he opened them again and focused on the two Winchesters.

"S'm…D'n?" he slurred.

"Yeah, we're here," Sam grinned, squeezing his wrist gently as Dean settled a hand on his uninjured shoulder. "How're you doing?"

Cas seemed relieved to see them both there and relaxed back onto the cot again with a wince. "Everything...hurts so much more...without my grace," he murmured.

Sam and Dean shared a pained look and Dean rubbed his shoulder gently. "Yeah, I'm sure it does, man, I'm sorry."

"What happened?" Cas asked, looking between them anxiously.

"You don't remember?" Dean asked worriedly.

Cas took a shallow breath, shaking his head slightly in exasperation. "No, I meant…Lucifer…"

Sam's stomach dropped at the mention of the fallen archangel and the secret he was keeping from his brother and best friend. But Dean shook his head. "Bastard has kept to himself." He rubbed a hand over his face, which was lined with weariness. "But we need to come up with a plan fast."

Sam wet his lips and cleared his throat. "Actually, Gabriel and I talked last night…we kind of came up with a plan."

Dean looked up at him expectantly. "And?"

"And…" Sam took a deep breath and spit it out. "I'm going to fight Lucifer today."

_~~~~~~~_

_He had known Dean_ wouldn't like it, had been prepared for his outburst, but Sam wasn't going to back down now, even as he sat wearily beside Cas while Dean paced around the cot furiously.

"I can't believe you agreed to fight Lucifer," he cried. " _Lucifer,_ Sam!"

A grunted curse came from a nearby cot holding one of the other occupants and Dean reluctantly lowered his voice, jabbing a finger at Sam. "What the hell, man?"

"Dean, I have to do something before he kills both of you," Sam insisted.

"By getting yourself killed, or, possibly even worse, _possessed?_ " Dean demanded.

"It's not up for negotiation," Sam said, standing up to face his brother. "I already made the deal and I can't back down now."

Dean shook his head, a cynical chuckle escaping his throat. "And right after you both talked me down from doing the same thing with Michael. You're such a hypocrite."

Sam felt rage flow through him and his fists balled at his sides. "I have no intention of saying yes to him, Dean! Trust me on that!"

"Then how the hell are you supposed to win?" Dean demanded. "Because I don't think Lucifer is exactly going to play fair!"

Sam shrugged helplessly. "I just have to try," he said quietly, all the rage eking from him, being replaced by a sense of finality. He was just ready for all of this to be over.

Dean just stood there, shaking his head. Finally, Cas spoke up from behind him. He was almost startled, having thought the angel was unconscious again.

"I trust you, Sam," Cas said sincerely. "Your strength…what I have seen you overcome already; I think if anyone could beat Lucifer, it would be you."

Sam's eyes pricked with tears at the angel's simple and honest words. He turned back to Dean and his brother closed his eyes, running a hand over his face before he sighed.

"Cas is right. You're strong, Sammy, stronger than me probably. I'm just…I'm scared."

"So am I," Sam admitted. "Which is why I need you to be with me on this."

Dean bit his lip and then reached out and cupped the side of Sam's neck with his hand. "You know I am, kiddo."

Sam smiled gratefully, looking from his brother to the angel, and then nodded back to the cot. "Now come on, dude, sit down before you tear your wounds open again."

Dean rolled his eyes but did as he was told.

Sam was about to go see about getting them breakfast, even though he wasn't hungry at all, but Gabriel strode into the room. Sam was surprised to see the archangel, thinking he wouldn't risk coming to see them before the fight.

"Gabriel," he said. "What's going on?"

Gabriel came over to them and then noticed that Cas was awake. He started slightly, and then his face softened. "Cassie?" he said hesitantly.

Cas shifted on the cot, looking somewhat uncomfortable. "Hello, Gabriel."

"Are you…doing all right?" Gabriel asked.

"I've been better," Cas admitted weakly, but with honestly instead of bite in his voice.

Gabriel pursed his lips. "Well, with any luck we'll be out of here today."

"Yeah, if Sam's insane plan works," Dean murmured, folding his arms over his chest. "Thanks for encouraging him, by the way."

"No problem. That reminds me," Gabriel said and reached under a fold of his toga. "I came to bring you something that might turn the tide a little." He held up an angel blade.

"Is that yours?" Sam asked, surprised. "How…?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Kali. And, yeah, it's really mine."

"Which means that…it _will_ kill Lucifer if you can manage a fatal blow," Cas said hoarsely.

Sam's breath caught in his throat. Could it be that simple? Was there any possibility that he would be able to end this here?

He reached out and took the blade from Gabriel.

"Promise me you'll kick him in the ass," Gabriel said. "And…maybe you can do what I couldn't."

Sam nodded and gripped the blade tighter.

"Now you should probably get ready," Gabriel told him. "I don't think Lucifer is going to want to wait much longer."


	8. Chapter 8

Dean brought an armload of armor into the infirmary where Sam was waiting nervously with Cas.

"Well, I tried to find something a little more substantial than the usual gladiator stuff but this is all they had in the armory," Dean said, setting the pile down on a cot as Sam stood and allowed his brother to help him buckle into it.

Sam didn't have much hope that it would do him any good against Lucifer but if the fallen archangel did agree to his terms, then Sam could at least hope to get out of the fight alive. The whole thing felt ridiculous; the armor and the gladiator pretext just seemed stupid and pointless. He wished he could just be in his normal jeans and flannel, but he didn't think he'd be able to come up with any of those here.

"I still don't like this," Dean muttered to himself.

"I know," Sam said simply. He knew well enough how he would feel if Dean did the same thing. He still vividly remembered how it had felt to watch his brother promise himself to Michael before he had pulled one over on Zachariah. As far as Dean was concerned, he was doing pretty much the same thing here even though his brother was in on the ruse. But despite everything Sam felt calm. He felt like he could handle this. Maybe just the thought of finally having a shot against Lucifer was helping him keep it in perspective. Especially now when, with Gabriel's blade, he might actually have a chance.

"Dean, just…just promise me," Sam said turning around to meet his brother's eyes. "That if things start to go bad, don't step in."

Dean glowered at him. "I can't promise that, Sam."

"Dean," Sam pleaded. "If the last thing I have to watch before Lucifer takes over my body is you dying…I won't have any fight left in me."

"He's not gonna take you, Sammy," Dean said firmly. "You're gonna shiv his ass and we're gonna go home."

"But _if…"_ Sam said insistently. "Dean, as long as I know you're out there fighting this thing, I'll have hope."

Dean closed his eyes and let out a long exhalation. "Okay."

Sam was suited up in the stiff armor. He rolled his shoulders, feeling the unfamiliar weight of the added layers, but it wasn't hampering his movements, and he should be able to do what he needed to do. He took Gabriel's blade from the cot and tucked it carefully into the back of his belt, concealing it under the breastplate.

Sam turned to Cas who was still resting on his cot, unable to even sit up. The angel looked at him solemnly as Sam reached down to clasp his hand.

"Be careful, Sam," Cas told him.

Sam nodded and squeezed Cas' hand. "We'll get out of this, Cas, and get back home. I promise."

Dean's hand was on his shoulder then and Sam turned around.

"Ready?" Dean asked.

"No, but let's go."

Dean walked him to the entrance to the arena seeing the assistants bustling around, readying for the day's entertainment.

"Alright, I guess this is it," Dean said, his jaw tight.

Sam bit his lip but nodded. "Yeah. Just…watch out for Cas okay?"

Dean nodded and then pulled Sam into a hug. "Just…don't die, Sammy. Make me proud."

Sam felt his eyes dampen and he blinked swiftly before he pulled away.

Flavius, looking less pissed today and more like he was simply done with everything, came over to them and nodded to Sam.

"Time to get out to the arena, son," he said. "For the record, I do not approve of these kinds of fights, but I haven't really been allowed much say lately as it is."

"Oh Flavius, stop your moaning," Dean snarled and walked his brother to the gate, handing him a sword and a small shield.

The arena itself was empty but he could already hear the vast murmuring of the people. Fabricated or not, it looked like Lucifer had wanted an audience today. Sam swallowed hard, focusing on the press of Gabriel's blade against his lower back, and waited for the attendants to open the gate up before he stepped out into the arena, glancing over his shoulder at Dean.

Dean nodded and that gave Sam the confidence boost he needed to step out into the arena.

The audience roared with applause at his appearance but he didn't salute them, keeping his blade at his side, tense as he waited for the gate opposite him to open.

When it did the audience heightened their shouts several decibels as they saw that their own emperor would be appearing on the field that day. Lucifer raised his hand to the crowd and they screamed even louder. He was dressed in an imperial set of armor, bronze breastplate and greaves and even a short red cape flowing down his back. He held a short Roman style sword but not an angel blade. Not that it mattered, the regular blade would hurt Sam well enough. Sam caught sight of Gabriel standing at the gate Lucifer had appeared from and the archangel gave Sam a thumb's up.

Once Lucifer had stopped soaking up the praise of the crowd, he and Sam moved toward each other, meeting in the center of the arena.

"Well, I gotta say this, Sam, at least you showed up," Lucifer told him with a small smirk.

Sam wasn't baited by that though. "You do remember our terms?"

Lucifer sighed in a longsuffering manner. "Yes, yes, no powers or any foul play. Now are we going to get on with this duel? Give the people what they want?"

Sam nodded and took a stance. Lucifer didn't even wait that long to start swinging.

Sam just barely got his shield up in time to stop the blow and the sword rang on the metal. Sam shuffled backwards and took a steadier stance, preparing for the next blow Lucifer threw at him. Even if he wasn't using his powers, he still had a strong arm.

Sam struck out with his own blade and Lucifer simply leaned to one side with a smile before he threw another barrage of hits at Sam who caught them all on his shield, unable to keep from backing up.

His forearm was already starting to go numb from the constant blows and his shoulder was aching. He had to speed this up.

The next strike Lucifer tried, Sam simply ducked under and rolled to one side, slashing with his blade to catch the back of Lucifer's leg that wasn't protected by the greave. A cut opened and Lucifer let out a small grunt of surprise, before it started to close again almost immediately.

Sam regained his feet, panting. "First blood," he said.

Lucifer smiled, but his eyes were dark, dangerous. "A scratch. You're going to have to do better than that, Sam."

And then he lunged forward, thrusting the sword directly at Sam's chest. Sam threw himself to one side and crashed into the sand. Lucifer stabbed down at him and Sam rolled over once more to escape the blow. Lucifer's sword drove into the sand and Sam took that moment to swing his legs around, kicking the fallen archangel in the backs of the knees.

Lucifer didn't fall, but he staggered to one knee and gave Sam enough time to get up.

Good thing too, because fury flashed through Lucifer like lightning and he surged upright with a snarl, slashing with his sword.

Sam hurriedly brought the shield up, but caught the blade wrong so that it glanced over the top of the small shield and cut into his arm.

Sam cried out, gritting his teeth as blood dripped down his arm, soaking into his tunic. Lucifer followed that up instantly with a sweeping blow that would have sliced Sam open if he hadn't been wearing armor. Thankfully the leather breastplate he was wearing kept the sword from gutting him but the blunt force of the blow still threw him back into the dirt.

The crowd was shouting encouragement to their emperor as Lucifer pounced on Sam, slamming one foot against the elbow of his shield arm and forcing the already numb limb to tingle. Sam cried out as Lucifer simply kicked the shield off of his limp arm before shoving his hobnailed sandal against Sam's chest, blade pointed toward his throat.

"Looks like I win, Sam," Lucifer said as the crowd shouted in the stands, holding their thumbs down for Lucifer to stab Sam. "Not exactly surprising, is it?"

Sam grit his teeth and grabbed Lucifer's leg behind the knee, twisting quickly to unbalance him. Lucifer toppled and Sam turned, snatching Gabriel's blade from its hiding place, and bringing it up to stab underneath of Lucifer's breastplate.

The archangel roared, grabbing at the blade as he scrambled away from Sam, giving the hunter one last kick to the face.

Sam sprawled back in the sand and rolled to regain his footing as Lucifer drew the blade from his side. Blood poured down the archangel's leg and spattered the sand below.

Lucifer threw the blade aside and his eyes flashed red. Sam only had a moment to prepare himself before Lucifer raised a hand and he was flung twenty feet across the arena. Sam landed hard, breath driven from his lungs and sand in his mouth and eyes. He heard Dean shouting at him and forced himself to his knees only to have Lucifer reach down and grab him around the throat, hauling him directly off his feet, choking for air.

"It's over, Sam," the devil snarled and flung him back into the sand. Sam hit his head, dazed, and cried out as Lucifer grabbed a fistful of his hair and wrenched him onto his knees, pressing his sword to Sam's throat. Sam fought, but Lucifer held him firmly, nearly wrenching the hair from his scalp. Lucifer growled and slammed Sam's head back into his armored knee then threw him to the ground.

Sam tried to drag himself away, searching for what had happened to Gabriel's blade, but Lucifer slammed his nailed boot into Sam's side and the hunter felt several ribs crack. He cried out in agony, collapsing and curling up. Another kick caught him in the lower back, before Lucifer shoved a foot against his hip and forced him onto his back. Sam stared up at the furious face of the devil, fear arching through him. Lucifer knelt over him, digging a knee into his broken ribs. Sam keened and struggled under Lucifer as the point of his sword teased at the hollow of his throat.

"It's time to give up, Sam," Lucifer said. "I won."

"You cheated," Sam gasped out. "You used your powers. The deal is off!"

Lucifer let out a humorless snort. " _I_ cheated? That's rich."

"I never said anything about angel blades," Sam panted. "You really thought I was going to walk in here without something that can actually do you damage when you can do anything you want to me? I just call that fair."

Lucifer's face darkened even more and he pressed the sword harder against his neck, cutting into his skin and making it hard to breathe.

"You will say yes to me," he snarled.

"I won't," Sam hissed. "You can't force me to give my permission."

"Oh, we'll see about that."

Lucifer stood and snapped his fingers. Sam rolled painfully onto his side and watched in horror as several guards swarmed Dean from where he was standing at the gate to the arena, dragging him out onto the sand toward Lucifer.

"Sammy!" Dean shouted, struggling against the guards, his hands tied behind his back. One simply punched him in the stomach before he was thrown to the ground at Lucifer's feet, several swords pointed at him.

"Bow to your emperor," one snarled.

"Like hell," Dean growled and a guard kicked him in the back, causing Dean to crumple with a yelp. Sam winced, sure that Dean's wounds would have been reopened again.

"Leave him alone, Lucifer!" Sam snarled.

"I'm done bargaining," Lucifer said. "My patience has run out. And it was you who forced my hand, Sam."

More guards were coming into the arena now and Sam felt a fresh horror overtake him as he saw Cas being dragged between two of them. The angel was dropped next to Dean, deathly pale and moaning in agony.

Lucifer snarled and kicked him in the stomach. Cas howled and curled weakly into himself.

"You son of a bitch!" Dean growled.

"Please don't hurt them," Sam pleaded, swaying on his knees.

"Will you say yes?" Lucifer asked him.

"Sammy, don't," Dean snapped.

Sam ducked his head, unable to look at his brother and the angel as he said it, throat tight. He shook his head. "No."

Lucifer shrugged. "Then you'll regret your decision. Guards, prepare these traitors for execution." He turned to Sam as Dean and Cas were dragged to their feet. "I trust you know well enough how treachery was punished in ancient Rome, Sam? It's a rather gruesome one."

Sam swallowed hard. He knew. Crucifixion.

"It will take them a long time to die like this," Lucifer said with a cold glee. "Maybe enough time for you to give me your answer. I promise that the second you do I will release them and heal them up good as new."

"Why should I trust you?" Sam demanded, searching around for that damn blade. "You cheated in the fight and you'll cheat in this too."

"Sam, you wound my honor," Lucifer told him and snapped his fingers. A post appeared next to him and he reached down to haul Sam up, shoving his back against the post. He snapped again and ropes appeared and cinched tightly around Sam's chest and arms, crushing his injured ribs painfully.

"I want you to have a nice seat for the entertainment," he said, patting Sam's cheek before turning back to the guards who held Dean and Cas. "Now, for the grand finale of today's entertainment…"

"I think you should check the scheduling again, you missed something."

Lucifer spun around and Sam craned his neck to see Gabriel striding into the arena. He too was dressed in armor and Sam was surprised to see that the archangel had his own blade in his hand. He must have picked it up from where Lucifer had tossed it on the arena floor.

Lucifer sighed. "Gabriel, what do you think you're doing?"

"Taking my stand," he said firmly, meeting Sam's eyes with a wink. Sam frowned wondering what the hell the archangel had in mind. He just hoped he actually _had_ a plan and wasn't just trying out a futile attempt to distract Lucifer.

"You're going to fight me, brother?" Lucifer asked.

"Well, I was gonna do karaoke, but I thought that might mess with historical accuracy."

Lucifer shook his head. "Always with the jokes, Gabriel."

"Come on, Luci, we've been through this before," Gabriel told him matter-of-factly. "You're a whiny attention-seeking brat and someone needs to teach you how things really work. I guess since Michael's not here this time, it has to be me."

"Excuse me?" Lucifer's eyes flashed and he took a step forward.

"You heard me," Gabriel said. "Now you wanna keep kicking around the humans or do you want to pick on someone your own size?"

"You're really going to make me do this, aren't you, brother?" Lucifer asked, snapping his fingers at one of his guards who brought over his own angel blade.

"Yeah, I'm afraid so," Gabriel cringed.

"Okay then."

Lucifer and Gabriel flung themselves forward, meeting in the middle with a clash of steel that sent sparks through the air. Sam watched with bated breath as the two archangels danced around each other in a furious fight. Until Lucifer kicked out at Gabriel and the younger archangel went skidding across the sand.

"You seem a little rusty, brother," Lucifer said, stalking toward him. "Must be all that poor living."

Gabriel spun around as Lucifer stabbed downward and kicked the devil in the groin. Lucifer's eyes widened and he huffed a breath as Gabriel regained his feet.

"I know you think you taught me all my tricks but you didn't," Gabriel told him. "Sometimes a kick to the nuts is all you really need."

Lucifer snarled. "You really have fallen, brother. And here you are, with your powers locked down, and no backup."

Gabriel cocked an eyebrow. "Who said I didn't have backup?" He spun around toward the stadium. "Kali, now!"

He dove to one side as a ball of fire shot out of the stands to the crowd's shock and roared over Lucifer. Sam's mouth was agape as he felt Lucifer's hold on him slacken. The ropes and stake disappeared and he collapsed to the ground.

Lucifer was screaming, his clothes and skin smoldering.

"Holy Greek fire—Batman." Gabriel smirked. "Whew, bet that hurts like a bitch."

"You insolent…"

Lucifer lunged at Gabriel and the younger archangel darted back but not before Lucifer waved a hand and Gabriel choked, collapsing to his knees and clutching his chest.

"I warned you not to cross me, Gabriel. Now I'm going to have to do something I'll really regret."

"Yeah, not as much as me," Gabriel said, and thrust his blade toward Lucifer, looking as if he was going to stab him in the throat.

But that wasn't what happened. The next few moments were a blur and Sam watched it rapt horror as Lucifer just barely dodged the blade and grabbed Gabriel's wrist. With one vicious twist, he wrenched Gabriel's arm around and down, burying the blade into his own stomach.

"Gabriel!"

Sam looked over at the weak cry, seeing Cas watching with horror, leaning against Dean. The guards were gone, maybe dispersed after Lucifer had taken that major hit with the holy fire.

But that wasn't the only thing disappearing. The crowds were gone now, and the constant roar wasn't coming from them anymore. In fact, Sam could feel it through his feet, under the sand, more a rumbling now.

Lucifer released Gabriel from his hold, recognition and horror washing over his face as the younger archangel collapsed on the ground, groaning. The arena started to crack apart and Sam scrambled to make it over to Dean and Cas, trying to help them to their feet in some attempt to escape whatever the hell was happening.

"You…" Lucifer snarled at Gabriel, who smirked from the ground, a chuckle escaping his throat and painting his lips red with blood. "No!"

"What the hell is going on?" Dean demanded, shouting over the thunderous cracking.

"Gabriel's power is supporting this pocket dimension," Cas replied. "With him fatally injured…it won't stand."

"What the hell do we do?" Dean demanded.

"Hold on," Cas said grimly.

Sam cast one last glance at Lucifer, staring at him in hatred, before he and Dean and Cas clutched at each other as the sky itself fell down on top of them.

_~~~~~~~_

_The roaring stopped abruptly_. Dean's first thought was _damn, please not back in Heaven again…_ but he still felt the wet painful sensation of fabric rubbing on an open wound at the small of his back, and when he opened his eyes, he was looking at an ugly carpet.

"Ugh, Dean?"

Dean pushed himself upright and glanced over to see Sam doing the same, wincing and curling an arm protectively around his side. Sam was back in his normal clothes, and so was Dean for that matter. They were also back in the hotel conference room.

"Sammy, you okay?" Dean asked.

Sam nodded, looking bewildered. Cas was lying next to them and Dean crawled the few feet to touch his throat, looking for a pulse. Cas stirred at the contact and groaned, eyes fluttering open.

"Dean? Sam? Are—are we…?"

"We're back," Sam assured him, looking around. "Gabriel…"

"Over here."

Dean turned and saw Kali sitting on the floor by the opposite wall, Gabriel's head propped in her lap. The archangel's eyes were glazed over, but he was still alive. Barely.

"Gabriel, why would you do that?" Cas demanded, trying to sit up, but gasping in pain as Sam reached out and propped him up.

The archangel smirked. "Come on, I got you out of there, didn't I? And, trust me, it was the _only_ way we were getting out of there. I realized that when Lucifer got pissed off and threw me into a wall and the dimension started to crack, so…"

"So you decided to let him stab you?" Cas demanded.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "Like you have any right to lecture me on stupid plans, kiddo. I heard you carved a banishing sigil into your chest and ended up in a coma."

Cas clenched his jaw but looked away. Sam glanced around the room and Dean had a feeling he knew what he was going to ask. "Where's Lucifer then?"

"Gone, for now," Gabriel said wearily. "With his injuries, it will probably take him a couple days to regroup. I suggest we take the same initiative." He coughed and blood spattered against his chest. "Dammit."

"Are you gonna make it?" Dean asked skeptically.

"Bitch, please," Gabriel grimaced. "You know how hard it is to kill me." He coughed again and curled into himself a little. "Crap."

Kali rolled her eyes. "Yes, the mighty Loki. You're still going to need time to recharge."

"Yeah, yeah," Gabriel muttered. He pushed himself up with a groan, pressing a hand to the wound in his stomach before he eased himself into a standing position. Kali helped him up with a huff and supported him as he staggered slowly over to the group.

"I'm still getting my powers back obviously, but I'll spare a little," he said and reached down to touch Cas' forehead. The other angel inhaled sharply and stiffened before his shoulders slumped just a little more in relaxation. His face looked less pale and he was breathing easier.

Gabriel staggered, but wasn't done. He reached out again and touched Sam and Dean's foreheads. Dean felt the wounds in his back knit up. Not entirely, but well enough that they wouldn't reopen every time he moved.

Gabriel was pale now and breathing hard. "There. Can't have you fighting the apocalypse if you can't even stand."

"Gabriel, thank you," Sam said sincerely.

"Don't say I never did anything for you," Gabriel replied before his eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed to the ground. Kali sighed, staring down at him.

"Idiot," she said, though Dean thought there was almost a fondness in her voice.

Cas reached out to set a hand against Gabriel's chest. "He's weak, but I think he'll recover given time to rest. And providing he doesn't overtax himself again."

Kali nodded. "I'll get him somewhere safe to recover. Oh, and…" She reached into Gabriel's coat and pulled out a dvd case. "He wanted me to give you this if he wasn't able to." She handed it to Dean with a disgusted look on her face.

Dean frowned as he looked at the cover. "Casa Erotica? The hell?"

"Don't ask," Kali said. "Now, I've got him. The rest of you should probably leave in case Lucifer recovers more quickly than anticipated. And boys? Don't call me for help. Ever."

Dean nodded. "No problem. But for the record, thanks for your help in there."

She gave him an impatient look and Dean helped Sam and Cas off the floor and they made their way out of the hotel.

Dean felt relief seeing the Impala still parked out front. "Well, at least my Baby's still here."

They drove to the next town and stopped at a motel—wonderfully nondescript—and got a room for the night. Sam had called Bobby on the way and told him what had happened but they were all too exhausted to drive straight back to Sioux Falls that night.

"Ugh," Dean groaned as he collapsed onto one of the beds. "I don't know about you but I am never watching _Gladiator_ again."

Sam smirked. "Yeah, it's not so fun when you live it."

Dean sat up again and pulled Gabriel's dvd out of his coat. "Sam, get your laptop."

Sam wrinkled his nose. "Why?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Come on, man, this is obviously a secret message or something. It might be important."

Sam sighed and got his laptop. The three of them crowded around as the video started playing. Dean frowned as it looked like it was just starting off as a regular porn video.

"That's inappropriate," Cas muttered to himself, but that's when Gabriel showed up in the video, with a ridiculous fake mustache and a waiter outfit.

"Oh god," Dean muttered, about to close the laptop, when Gabriel turned directly to the screen and spoke to them about the Horsemen's rings and how putting them together could form a key that would open the Cage and allow them to throw Lucifer into it.

And then it devolved into just porn and Dean hurriedly slammed the laptop shut.

"Well, okay, I guess that was useful, but I don't see why he couldn't have just told us this before," Dean muttered feeling like he needed a shower. In bleach.

"It was too dangerous in the pocket dimension," Cas said matter-of-factly. "Lucifer was eavesdropping on us at all times." He shook his head, muttering, "I don't understand why he chose this particular form of media to send his message, though…"

"But we know how to stop Lucifer now," Sam said and Dean turned to him seeing a light of hope in his eyes. "We just need two more rings and then we can actually do it. We can actually defeat Lucifer!"

"Hold on, Sam, we still have to figure out a way to get Lucifer where we need him. I mean, it's not like he's just going to jump into the Cage."

Sam shook his head. "We'll figure it out, just like you always say, Dean. But it's possible now! We have a way to win!"

Sam's attitude was somewhat infectious and Dean nodded, allowing himself a small smile. "Yeah, yeah we do, Sammy. And we'll do it together this time." He glanced at Cas too. "Right? Team Free Will."

"Team Free Will," Sam and Cas added.

Dean wasn't sure what would come next, but if they had even a snowball's chance to beat the devil, then…hell, bring it on.


End file.
